Brian Lara - The Prince

[ajithfederer]

Brian Charles Lara (born May 2, 1969) (nicknamed "The Prince of Port-of-Spain" or simply "The Prince") is a West Indian cricketer. Lara is acknowledged as one of the world's greatest batsmen, having several times topped the Test batting rankings and being the current world record holder for the highest individual innings score and the all-time leading run scorer in Test cricket.

Lara's career statistics suggest unmitigated genius, but in reality his career has been bedevilled by clashes with authority, injury and loss of form, all against the backdrop of West Indies being the strongest team in world cricket at the time of his debut (indeed, Lara was unable to break into the test side on his first tour with the side) but suffering a decline to the point where victories against leading test sides are few and far between. Many have wondered what Lara might have achieved had he been simply another great player in the all-conquering teams of the 1970s and 80s under Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards, rather than the sole great batsman carrying the hopes of a rapidly declining side.

Lara has shown an almost unparalleled ability to build massive innings, and holds several world records for high scoring. He has the highest individual score in both first-class cricket (501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994) and Test cricket (400 not out for the West Indies against England in 2004). He also holds the record for the highest total number of runs in a Test career, after overtaking Allan Border in November 2005. He is the only man to have reclaimed the Test record score, having scored 375 against England in 1994, a record that stood until Matthew Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003. His 400 not out also made him the second player after Don Bradman to score two Test triple-centuries, and the second after Bill Ponsford to score two first-class quadruple-centuries. He has scored eight double centuries in Test cricket, second only to Bradman's twelve.

Lara captained the West Indies from 1997 to 1999. He was reappointed as captain against the touring Australians in 2003, and struck 110 in his first Test match back in charge, showing signs of him returning to his best. In September 2004, West Indies won the ICC Champions Trophy in England under his captaincy and seemed to have finally started their comeback from years of poor performance.

In March 2005, Lara declined selection for the West Indies team because of a dispute over his personal Cable & Wireless sponsorship deal, which clashed with the Cricket Board's main sponsor, Digicel. Six other players were involved in this dispute, including stars Christopher Gayle, Ramnresh Sarwan, and Dwayne Bravo. In fact, Lara declined selection in a stand of solidarity, when these players were dropped because of their sponsorship deals. The issue was resolved after the first Test of the series against the touring South African team. Lara returned to the team for the second Test (and scored a huge first innings score of 196), but in the process lost his captaincy indefinitely to the newly-appointed Shivnarine Chanderpaul. In the next Test, against the same opponents, he scored a majestic 176 in the first innings, which was hailed by many as one of his best innings in recent years. After an indifferent one day series against South Africa, he once again established himself as one of the leading batsmen of the modern era when he scored his first Test century against the visiting Pakistanis in the first Test at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.

On April 26, 2006 Lara was reappointed the captain of the West Indies cricket team for the third time. This followed the resignation of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who had been captain for just thirteen months - in which the West Indies won just one of the 14 Test matches they had competed. In May 2006, Lara led the West Indies to successful One-Day series victories against Zimbabwe and India

[ajithfederer]

Biography
Brian was born in Cantaro, Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago. He is 10th in a family of 11 children. His father Bunty Lara died in 1988. His mother Pearl Lara suffered from cancer and died in January 2002. He is also the father of an eight-year-old daughter called Sydney whom he had with Trinidadian model Leasel Rovedas.

From an early age, Lara showed precocious talent. His father Bunty and one of his older sisters were first to recognize young Brian's exceptional batting talents and enrolled him in the local Harvard Coaching Clinic at the age of only six for weekly coaching sessions on Sundays. As a result, Lara had a very early education in proper batting techniques.

Lara's first school was St. Joseph's Roman Catholic primary. He then went to San Juan secondary, but played no cricket there. A year later, at fourteen years old, he moved on to Fatima College. Lara moved in with his fellow Trinidadian Test player Michael Carew in Woodbrook, Port of Spain (a 20 minute drive from Santa Cruz). Michael's father Joey Carew was very instrumental in his cricketing and personal career development. Michael got Lara his first job at the Angostura Ltd. in the Marketing department. Lara played in Trinidad and Tobago junior soccer and table tennis sides but cricket was the path to recognition in Trinidad at the time. Lara wanted to emulate his idols: Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards and the left-handed Roy Fredericks.

Lara began his cricket career while at school at Fatima College. When he was 14, he played in the under-16 and First Divisions of national schoolboys' cricket. He amassed 745 runs in the schoolboys' league that year with an astounding average of 126.16 per innings. Immediately afterwards he was selected for the Trinidad national under-16 team. When he was 15 years old, he played in his first West Indian under 19 youth tournament. In 1984, Lara represented West Indies in Under-19 Test Cricket. 1987 was a breakthrough year for Lara, when he broke the West Indies youth batting record. In January, 1988, Lara made his first-class debut for Trinidad and Tobago in the Red Stripe Cup against Barbados. The Bajan attack contained Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall. Lara batted nearly a full day and made 92. Later in the same year, he captained the West Indies team in Australia for the Bicentennial Youth World Cup. His innings of 182 as captain of the West Indies under 23 XI against the 1988-89 Indians elevated Lara's reputation even further. He was selected for the Port of Spain Test of that season. He did not play, however, due to suffering the personal setback of the death of his father. In 1989, he captained West Indies B Team in Zimbabwe and scored 145 for the West Indies, a side that included several players with Test experience. In 1990, at the age of 20, Lara became Trinidad and Tobago's youngest ever captain and won the one-day Geddes Grant Shield. It was also in 1990 that he made his Test debut for West Indies against Pakistan, scoring 44 & 6.

Lara loves carnivals, Chinese & Italian food, and is known to be a practical joker.

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:2a0db520e9]Career highlights

Brian Lara's career performance graph.Lara showed his talent in his 5th Test, striking 277 runs against Australia in Sydney, his maiden Test century. It remains the fourth highest maiden Test century by any batsman. [1]. It was also the highest individual score in all Tests between the two teams, the fourth-highest ever recorded against Australia.
He became the first man to score seven centuries in eight first-class innings, the first being the historic record 375 against England and the last being the record 501 not out against Durham.
After Matthew Hayden had eclipsed his Test record 375 by five runs in 2003, he reclaimed the record — a unique feat — scoring 400 not out in 2004. With this innings he became the second player to score two Test 300s, the second player to score two career 400s, the only player to achieve both these milestones, and regained the distinction of being the holder of both the record first-class individual innings and the record Test individual innings.
He is the all-time leading run scorer in Test cricket, a record he attained on 26 November 2005. [2]
In the same innings, he became the second batsman to score 1000 Test runs in five different years, four days after Matthew Hayden first set the record.
He was the fastest batsmen to 10,000 (with Tendulkar) and 11,000 Test runs, in terms of number of innings. [3]
He has (as of July 2006) scored 32 centuries (the most for a West Indian and 3rd for all Test cricket [4]), of which eight are double centuries (surpassed only by Bradman [5]) and two triple-centuries (matched only by Bradman [6]). He has scored centuries against all Test-playing nations.
Lara fought many lone battles as the West Indies collective batting strength slumped over the years. He has scored an astonishing 20% of his team runs [7], a feat surpassed only by Bradman (23%) and George Headley (21%). Lara scored 688 runs (a record 42% of team output and the second highest aggregate runs in history for a three-Test series) in the 2001-02 tour of Sri Lanka [8].
He also scored a century and a double century in the third Test in that same Sri Lanka tour, a feat repeated only five other times in Test cricket history [9].
A devastating batsman when in form, Lara holds the world record of scoring most runs (28) in a single over in Test cricket [10].
He is fifth all-time in the category of most catches in a career by a non-Wicketkeeper behind Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Allan Border and Stephen Fleming [11].
In 1994, he was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award. In 1995, he was chosen as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
Comfortably averaging over 50 per innings (the benchmark for batting greatness in Test cricket), Lara has often been ranked the number one batsman in Test cricket according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Cricket Ratings [12].
Lara has played some of the most brilliant innings in recent years. Wisden published a top 100 list in July 2001, a distillation of the best performances from 1,552 Tests, 54,494 innings and 29,730 bowling performances. Three innings by Lara were placed in the top 15 [13]. His heroic 153 not out in Bridgetown, Barbados, during West Indies' 2-2 home series draw against Australia in *1998-1999 was deemed the second greatest Test innings ever played, behind Bradman's 270 against England in the Third Test of the 1936-1937 series at Melbourne. On 13 October, 2003, PricewaterhouseCoopers Ratings team published a list of top innings since 1990 under their own methodology. Lara's 213 against Australia in Kingston, Jamaica in 1999 came out to be the top innings. His 375 was placed 8th and his three other innings, including the 153 not out, were not far behind.
Brian Lara has scored centuries against all test playing nations. He achieved this feat in 2005 by scoring his first test century against Pakistan at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
[/tscii:2a0db520e9]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:783320e117]Batting average
Lara's batting average in Tests is impressive, over 54 an innings and in One-day Internationals he averages over 41 an innings at a strike rate (number of runs scored per 100 balls) of close to 80. The following four graphs show his Test batting average over the years in four chronological sections:

The beginning: his first 55 Test innings, from December 1990 to April 1996, with an average of 60.32
The first drop of his batting form: innings #56 to #103, November 1996 to March 1999, with an average of 36.00
Then second drop of his batting form: innings #108 to #138, April 1999 to April 2001, with an average of 30.58
The rise of his form in recent years: innings #139 to #197, April 2001 to August 2004, with an average of 64.93

Test Centuries
The following table illustrates a summary of the test centuries scored by Brian Lara

In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career
Test Centuries of Brian Lara
Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
[1] 277 5 Australia Sydney, Australia Sydney Cricket Ground 1993
[2] 167 13 England Georgetown, Guyana Bourda 1993
[3] 375 16 England St John's, Antigua Antigua Recreation Ground 1994
[4] 147 21 New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Basin Reserve 1995
[5] 145 29 England Manchester, England Old Trafford 1995
[6] 152 30 England Nottingham, England Trent Bridge 1995
[7] 179 31 England London, England Kennington Oval 1995
[8] 132 38 Australia Perth, Australia W.A.C.A. Ground 1997
[9] 103 42 India St John's, Antigua Antigua Recreation Ground 1997
[10] 115 45 Sri Lanka Kingstown, Saint Vincent Arnos Vale Ground 1997
[11] 217 61 Australia Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park 1999
[12] 153* 62 Australia Bridgetown, Barbados Kensington Oval 1999
[13] 100 63 Australia St John's, Antigua Antigua Recreation Ground 1999
[14] 112 68 England Manchester, England Old Trafford 2000
[15] 182 73 Australia Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2000
[16] 178 81 Sri Lanka Galle, Sri Lanka Galle Stadium 2001
[17] 221 83 Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2001
[18] 130 83 Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2001
[19] 110 91 Australia Georgetown, Guyana Bourda 2003
[20] 122 92 Australia Port of Spain, Trinidad Queen’s Park Oval 2003
[21] 209 95 Sri Lanka Gros Islet, Saint Lucia Beausejour Stadium 2003
[22] 191 98 Zimbabwe Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Queen’s Sport Club 2003
[23] 202 99 South Africa Johannesburg, South Africa New Wanderers Stadium 2003
[24] 115 101 South Africa Cape Town, South Africa Newlands 2004
[25] 400* 106 England St John's, Antigua Antigua Recreation Ground 2004
[26] 120 108 Bangladesh Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park 2004
[27] 196 113 South Africa Port of Spain, Trinidad Queen’s Park Oval 2005
[28] 176 114 South Africa Bridgetown, Barbados Kensington Oval 2005
[29] 130 116 Pakistan Bridgetown, Barbados Kensington Oval 2005
[30] 153 117 Pakistan Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park 2005
[31] 226 121 Australia Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2005
[32] 120 126 India Gros Islet, Saint Lucia Beausejour Stadium 2006

[/tscii:783320e117]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:26c7cd8672]One Day International Centuries
ODI Centuries of Brian Lara
Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
[1] 128 41 Pakistan Durban, South Africa Kingsmead 1993
[2] 111* 42 South Africa Bloemfontein, South Africa Springbok Park 1993
[3] 114 45 Pakistan Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park 1993
[4] 153 54 Pakistan Sharjah, UAE Sharjah C.A. Stadium 1993
[5] 139 83 Australia Port of Spain, Trinidad Queen’s Park Oval 1995
[6] 169 90 Sri Lanka Sharjah, UAE Sharjah C.A. Stadium 1995
[7] 111 96 South Africa Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium 1996
[8] 146* 100 New Zealand Port of Spain, Trinidad Queen’s Park Oval 1996
[9] 104 102 New Zealand Kingstown, Saint Vincent Arnos Vale Ground 1996
[10] 102 108 Australia Brisbane, Australia Brisbane Cricket Ground 1997
[11] 103* 109 Pakistan Perth, Australia W.A.C.A Ground 1997
[12] 110 125 England Bridgetown, Barbados Kensington Oval 1998
[13] 117 157 Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh Bangabandhu National Stadium 1999
[14] 116* 176 Australia Sydney, Australia Sydney Cricket Ground 2001
[15] 111 202 Kenya Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2002
[16] 116 203 South Africa Cape Town, South Africa Newlands 2003
[17] 116 217 Sri Lanka Bridgetown, Barbados Kensington Oval 2003
[18] 113 219 Zimbabwe Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club 2003
[19] 156 249 Pakistan Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2005
[/tscii:26c7cd8672]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:f5f56b15ca]Man of the Match Awards

Test Cricket
Man of the Match Awards – Brian Lara
Runs Against City/Country Venue Result Year
[1] 277 Australia Sydney, Australia Sydney Cricket Ground Match Drawn 1993
[2] 167 England Georgetown, Guyana Bourda won by an innings and 44 runs 1993
[3] 375 England St John's, Antigua Antigua Recreation Ground Match Drawn 1993
[4] 179 England London, England Kennington Oval Match Drawn 1995
[5] 104 India St John’s, Antigua Antigua Recreation Ground Match Drawn 1997
[6] 213 Australia Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park won by 10 wickets 1999
[7] 8/153* Australia Bridgetown, Barbados Kensington Oval won by 1 wicket 1999
[8] 221/130 Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sport Club Ground won by 10 wickets 2001
[9] 209 Sri Lanka Gros Islet, Saint Lucia Beausejour Stadium Match Drawn 2003
[10] 191/1 Zimbabwe Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club won by 128 runs 2003
[11] 400* England St John’s, Antigua Antigua Recreation Ground Match Drawn 2004
[12] 226/17 Australia Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval won by 7 wickets 2005


One Day International Cricket
Man of the Match Awards – Brian Lara
Runs Against City/Country Venue Result Year
[1] 54 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium won by 24 runs 1991
[2] 69 Australia Brisbane, Australia Brisbane Cricket Ground won by 12 runs 1992
[3] 88 Pakistan Melbourne, Australia Melbourne Cricket Ground won by 10 wickets 1992
[4] 72 Zimbabwe Brisbane, Australia Brisbane Cricket Ground won by 75 runs 1992
[5] 86 South Africa Port of Spain, Trinidad Queens Park Oval won by 10 wickets 1992
[6] 128 Pakistan Durban, South Africa Kingsmead won by 124 runs 1993
[7] 111* South Africa Bloemfontein, South Africa Springbok Park won by 9 wickets 1993
[8] 114 Pakistan Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park won by 4 wickets 1993
[9] 95* Pakistan Port of Spain, Trinidad Queens Park Oval won by 5 wickets 1993
[10] 153 Pakistan Sharjah, UAE Sharjah C.A. Stadium won by 6 wickets 1993
[11] 82 Sri Lanka Kolkata, India Eden Gardens won by 7 wickets 1993
[12] 55* New Zealand Auckland, New Zealand Eden Park won by 25 runs 1995
[13] 72 New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Basin Reserve won by 41 runs 1995
[14] 139 Australia Port of Spain, Trinidad Queens Park Oval won by 133 runs 1995
[15] 169 Sri Lanka Sharjah, UAE Sharjah C. A. Stadium won by 4 runs 1995
[16] 111 South Africa Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium won by 19 runs 1996
[17] 146* New Zealand Port of Spain, Trinidad Queens Park Oval won by 7 wickets 1996
[18] 103* Pakistan Perth, Australia W.A.C.A Grounds won by 5 wickets 1997
[19] 90 Australia Perth, Australia W.A.C.A Grounds won by 4 wickets 1997
[20] 88 Pakistan Sharjah, UAE Sharjah C.A. Stadium won by 43 runs 1997
[21] 51 England Kingstown, Saint Vincent Arnos Vale Ground won by 4 wickets 1998
[22] 60 India Singapore Kallang Ground won by 42 runs 1999
[23] 117 Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh Bangabandhu National Stadium won by 109 runs 1999
[24] 116* Australia Sydney, Australia Sydney Cricket Ground won by 28 runs 2001
[25] 83* Zimbabwe Perth, Australia W.A.C.A Grounds won by 44 runs 2001
[26] 59* New Zealand Gros Islet, Saint Lucia Beausejour Stadium won by 7 wickets 2002
[27] 103* Kenya Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground won by 29 runs 2002
[28] 116 South Africa Cape Town, South Africa Newlands won by 3 runs 2003
[29] 80 Australia Port of Spain, Trinidad Queens Park Oval won by 39 runs 2003
[30] 156 Pakistan Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval won by 58 runs 2005
[/tscii:f5f56b15ca]

[ajithfederer]

Trivia
In a 1994 Bradman Foundation charity match, Lara was famously dismissed by Australian women's cricket team all-rounder, Zoe Goss.
Lara made 501 not out against Durham - while sponsored by a rival jeans company to Levi's.

[Unicorn]

:roll: time 2 payback by spoilin this thread :evil:

[manuel]

we should have a thread on"The Prince of Port-of-Spain" Vs "The Prince of Kolkatta"...

[nilavupriyan]

we should have a thread on"The Prince of Port-of-Spain" Vs "The Prince of Kolkatta"...

:roll:

[ranjit_g]

we should have a thread on"The Prince of Port-of-Spain" Vs "The Prince of Kolkatta"...
prince of calcutta cannot b compared with prince of trinidad.in fact none of the current batsmen can b compared with the prince of trinidad.he is way above everyone else playing at the moment.

[manuel]

we should have a thread on"The Prince of Port-of-Spain" Vs "The Prince of Kolkatta"...
prince of calcutta cannot b compared with prince of trinidad.in fact none of the current batsmen can b compared with the prince of trinidad.he is way above everyone else playing at the moment.

Lara - The day he stepped in to the west indies cricket -- started the downfall of the great West indian team.... while he himeself was creating records, his team sufferred ..... from one of the most dreadest team to the most dearest team ..... lara could not transform his own sucess ..to that of his team.. his team lost its golden period.

Allthough now i beleive he is learning ... the recent success against india is any indicator then i think he is now making amend for his past mistakes.......

Sachin is excellent no one can match him....

[imsai]

Lara being in a poor team is not his misktake and one batsman can't carry team in every matches. At least one good bowler is needed to do that more consistently.

What a genius of a batsman he is. Incomparable

[imsai]

[tscii:eccc653039]'Lara the greatest among his peers'
Jamie Alter in Mumbai

November 4, 2006


A high-profile panel of former greats chose Brian Lara over Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest modern-day batsman © Getty Images

Having to name one "great" batsman from among three contemporary favourites is a tricky task at any time. Yet a high-profile panel of former greats stuck its collective neck out and picked Brian Lara over Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar for his ability to dominate attacks consistently and over a period of time.

The panel - John Wright, Ian Chappell, Tony Greig and Ravi Shastri - had gathered for Cricinfo's fortnightly discussion The Round Table, hosted by Sanjay Manjrekar. Saturday's discussion, part of the new audio service, Cricinfo Talk, was debating the question, How good is the modern batsman?

The issue was discussed under the canvas of four trends: One, the fact that the 2006 Champions Trophy has served up only one score in excess of 300; two, that perhaps this was the golden age of batting pitches; three, that techniques were not being tested enough; and four, that averages belied sheer batting talent.

All four panelists immediately identified the change in the nature of Indian pitches during the Champions Trophy. While the prolonged monsoon yielded an under-prepared pitch in the earlier games at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium, the last few matches at the other venues had ball dominate bat for an altogether un-Indian reason - bounce and carry.

Wright, the former New Zealand opener and India coach, noted how pitches today were marketed differently, and how curators were attempting to suit various conditions. Chappell and Shastri singled out Daljit Singh, the curator of the PCA Stadium in Mohali, for praise for his effective work on a pitch that "produced an even contest, and good matches" and was "the best" in India.

Shastri highlighted how the Mohali pitch had exposed India's batsmen - with bounce and carry, and some lateral movement - against Australia and how, as a result of a lack of sixes, India were forced to push for the ones and twos but failed to do so in the manner that Australia did.

Another factor raised was that of the one bouncer per over rule, which Shastri favoured. "It's a good rule, because it gives the bowler a chance to dictate terms and leave that doubt in the batsman's mind," he said. Noted Wright, "The front-foot play was diminished considerably. Batsmen needed to rely more on technical expertise, such as balance and shot control. Survival on flatter pitches is easier, but we saw with the bounce and movement than many batsmen struggled. It was quite unlike Indian conditions."



'It's simple: the pitches play up, the batsmen struggle' - Tony Greig © Getty Images



Greig summed it up - "It's simple: the pitches play up, the batsmen struggle" - while commenting on how batsmen weaned on flat pitches were suddenly finding unpredictable surfaces tough to handle. All four experts agreed that the Champions Trophy had exposed certain modern day batsmen.

In 2006, there have been 12 batsmen who averaged over 50, around three times the number of even a decade ago. So how does this square with the notion of declining quality? The consensus was that batsmen in the contemporary era were up against weaker bowling as against batsmen till the mid-1990s. Chappell was quick to point out that he would have included Mark Taylor and Michael Slater as the opening pair in an all-time Australian XI over Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, for their ability to dominate quality bowling attacks. He gave the example of Hayden, whose average soon after he debuted at the international level was in the 20s and who couldn't progress beyond a certain level. On his phenomenal return, notably in the series against India in 2001, Hayden averaged in the 60s and Chappell noted how this could have been because of the difference in bowling quality.

"Teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have diluted the bowling," said Chappell. "If you look back at the '90s, you had a more formidable bowling attack going up against batsmen. You had Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis operating in tandem, Allan Donald was there, Australia, as they've almost always done, had a formidable attack, and even West Indies had Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Today, that's not the case, as the pace just isn't there."

Pace brought up the issue of helmets. It was argued that today's batsmen relied too much on safety precautions. Wright, having played just a small amount of his cricket without a helmet, pointed to successful batsman like Gary Sobers, Greg Chappell and Viv Richards, who not only scored runs against very fast bowlers while batting without helmets, but also dominated attacks.



The Cricinfo Round Table panel © Getty Images



Chappell was emphatic: "I didn't ever honestly think that a bowler was going to bowl to hit me. We backed our instincts and our skills. The only way I ever thought I'd get hit on the head was by my own mistake, if I'd top-edge a hook back onto my skull." Greig stressed on how the batsman's courage was not being tested enough, and that certain aspects of batting had gone astray.

So how does one identify greatness? It's a feel that one gets from watching a batsman, was the consensus, and the statistics usually back it up. Shastri pointed out that while technique and ability were definite criteria, what mattered most was consistency.

The panelists were asked to name their greats, and the common names from the past included the two Richards, Garry Sobers, Graeme Pollock, for their ability to score consistently throughout their careers.

And so to Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting. The panel's choice was clear, Lara over Ponting. Sunday's face-off just got more interesting.

The entire Round Table will be webcast live on November 14.

'Lara the greatest among his peers'

Sanjay Manjrekar

November 18, 2006

What defines greatness in a batsman? Is it the weight of statistics or the ability to score runs in all conditions? In the concluding part of this Round Table discussion on modern batsmen, Sanjay Manjrekar asks John Wright, Tony Greig, Ian Chappell and Ravi Shastri to pick their greatest.


Sanjay Manjrekar: Are pitches all over the world starting to look similar and is that the one real worry as Greg Chappell has said before? Tell me John, India in South Africa in 2003; if the pitches were typical South African pitches with more bounce and life would India have reached the final rounds?

John Wright: It would have been more difficult; particularly at the Centurion, where the wicket was a totally different strip to the one that we played the unofficial test match on. Those wickets definitely suited us and we were definitely pleased.

SM: Yes, that is the challenge...but let us be practical here; finally everything is going to be dictated by television. While coming here I was talking on the phone to the people who market the television rights and for them, it's a 100-over match that they want. Anything less than that, they lose money big time. So the pressure on the administrators is so intense to make sure that you get pitches that ensure that 100 overs are bowled in a test match.

Ian Chappell: The pitch that India played Australia on provided a terrific contest and it almost lasted 100 overs. What I don't understand is that when you've got Daljit Singh in Mohali, why do you bring in someone from the outside? There's a problem in the pitch; we bring in someone from overseas. Perth bounces so let us get the Perth soil and put it in. It works in Perth because it suits the Perth climate. Let us stop trying to beat nature. We're stupid enough to do it in other areas but in cricket you can't beat nature. There are obviously Indians, Daljit Singh is one we keep coming back to, that know enough about Indian pitches. If somebody's got a problem in India why not refer to him, why do you have to fly someone in from another country who hasn't much of a clue about the local conditions of this country?

SM: Final point on this subject, 12 guys averaging over 50 in 2000, is that going to be a trend now? Ricky Ponting has already got 30 test hundreds, Sunil Gavaskar it seems took a lifetime getting to those hundreds; we saw the work he put in getting to each and every one of them. We thought that this record might be difficult to beat but for Ricky Ponting it has been like a walk in the park so far. He might even end up with 40 or 45 hundreds, so like Tony said, is this going to be a temporary phase or should we get used to good batsmen getting 40-45 hundreds?

Ravi Shastri: It might well be a temporary phase. If you get a couple of good bowlers coming through the ranks, then there'll be a contest.

SM: Good bowlers on flat tracks, with television continuing to rule the game?

Tony Greig: You can't allow that to happen, you cannot allow television to dictate the nature of the pitches.

SM: Well it is actually the viewers dictating.

TG: No, that'll make the game boring and predictable. There are all sorts of things, there are the incentives we haven't even spoken about, about what these guys are getting these days, they're literally putting superannuation away. By the time they finish playing they won't have to work again. They can go and do anything they like. There are so many other factors; television is the be all and end all as of now revenue wise, it may not be long before that changes.

SM: Do you think the viewers need to get more demanding?

TG: Don't think that going in for longer and getting the 100 overs is what is going to get the ads, because believe me, 20-20 has arrived and for me as much as people don't like it, more and more Mr. Average out there is going to want shorter forms of cricket.

SM: And also the wickets break, I mean a commercial break between wickets is worth 2-3 overs, so maybe 20 wickets falling in a day is not such a bad thing after all.

RS: Sanjay just coming back to the bowling issue which you've just said is temporary. I don't see bowling improving drastically in the next decade or so and the simple reason for that is too much one day cricket. Now, you just see the amount of one-day cricket that has been played in the last ten years and it really plays on the fast bowler. If he has to play test matches and then play one-day cricket and travel all over the place, you're not going to get too many real quality fast bowlers.

SM: Most of the bowlers today are talking about bowling in the right area. That means batsmen know that everything is gong to be around off-stump. There will not be too many different lines of attack or different kinds of swing bowling...

TG: We can fix that. Let's start to swing the ball a bit more, let's get the two-piece ball back, let's get back swing and pitch it up a bit more, let's see how they handle that.

RS: You talk about bats getting lighter; why not meddle with the weight of the ball? Make it lighter or heavier to ensure a better contest.

SM: John do you think that if we have a stipulation on the weight of the bat and bring back the two-piece leather ball, it will ensure a better contest between bat and ball?

JW: Well, don't like a lot of rules. I think batting is going to continue to dominate. There is a lot of cricket being played and it's easier to bat and play a lot of cricket than it is to bowl. You're going to have to keep a lot of world-class bowlers fit all the time and that is pretty difficult.

SM: Yes, we've lost one 90mph bowler and there are just a few of them left, in fact they're almost becoming extinct.

JW: You play county cricket at the end of the year and that's the best time to get your runs; in August and September, because all those bowlers are knackered. There are very few attacks in world cricket right now that are fresh at the start of a test match.

SM: So basically batsmen are going to have a good time for a length of time?

IC: You're talking about more centuries or so. Have a look at the number of matches- it stands to reason more that there will be more number of centuries because guys are playing 150-160 test matches, where at one time 100 used to be unusual. One of the things I enjoyed about the Champions Trophy is what we saw with Ponting in the semi-final against New Zealand. Usually, Ponting when he gets to 20 or 30 he usually makes a 100 and the opposition captain is resigned to it. And easy runs are given away which really pisses me off because it changes the dynamics of the innings. But then suddenly you saw Ponting get out at 58 because there was still something there in the pitch. That's the way I remember the contest of cricket. As a batsman, when you got 30 you rarely thought that this could be a hundred but now you can almost sense that this is what the batSMen thinks and even the fielding side thinks along the same lines. If there was an even contest between bat and ball that wouldn't be happening. If guys get a hundred they should be earning it.

RS: Plus as a captain it forces you to think and strategise. It's not one-way traffic where the bat is dominating the ball. As a captain you want to be ahead and on the ball with a Plan A, B and C happening and that is definitely more fun watching.

SM: Let's move on and talk on our final subject of today. As a batSMen what defines greatness? When you say this batsman is great what are the qualities and characteristics that you are looking for? Is it technique, natural skills, ability to handle pressure or is it just being consistent? We've got contemporary greats here; Tendulkar, Lara, Waugh, Dravid, Ponting, Inzamam and Jaques Kallis. I want you pick your greatest batSMen in this era. So John, first of all what do you think makes a batsman great and who's your choice?

JW: For me it's the look, you just see it and think, he's a great player.

SM: So you don't look at the figures?

JW: Well, hopefully that bloke who looks so good is not averaging 10. There are three great players that I saw during my career. There are players that were great or good or very good, whatever you would like to call them -- Miandad, Gavaskar, Border, Kallicharran, Zaheer, Boycott--but to me true greatness was something that I looked at and said "wow, you don't see that very often", and their figures bear it out. I watched Barry Richards play three innings- two for Kent and one when I played against him for Derbyshire. He didn't play much test cricket but to my mind he was great; and so was Viv Richards and Greg Chappell. They were the three guys who I thought were great. There were a lot of names on that list but for me it was the look and out of this lot it's Tendulkar and Lara. SM: And which one of the two?

JW: No, I don't see it that way, I really don't.

SM: I mean, in this lot, Tendulkar and Lara, if you had to pick one?

JW: Well, am not going to.

SM: Ian, I know for you also it's the look; a Mark Waugh will always be better than a Steve Waugh for you.

IC: Obviously, it gets down to people you like watching. As John said, you don't get a player who looks like a champion and then find out that he averages 10.

SM: Ok, then tell us what you look for. First the 'look', then the big matches and the players who perform in them?

IC: Guys who can take control of the game and then change the game in a short period of time. As a captain, the guys who kept me awake at night were guys like Sobers, Graeme Pollock and Viv Richards--a guy who could get a big score and get it quickly. Guys like Geoffrey Boycott couldn't keep me awake at night, in fact he put me to sleep during the day. I figured that if he got 150 he took so long that it made our chances of saving the game much better. Another reason why I don't classify Geoffrey Boycott as great was that he was a selfish bastard; he never played for the team, he always played for himself. I heard Bill Lawry call him a great batsman one day, and I said to Bill as he came off the field, "that's rubbish Bill, he wasn't a great player". He hemmed and hawed and I said, "Bill, Gary Sobers averaged bloody 58 and he played every second for the game of cricket and not for himself. Boycott played every single second of his career as a batsman for himself and he averaged only 47. What are you talking?"

SM: He's a completely different person now, totally selfless! But Ian, from this lot, Tendulkar, Lara, Waugh, Dravid, Ponting, Inzamam and Jaques Kallis, who would you pick?

IC: Out of that lot I would put Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting in that category.

SM: Will you also not pick amongst them?

IC: I will. The point I want to make is that Tendulkar and Lara started quite a lot time before Ponting and it does take a long time to establish yourself as a great player. And whilst I think that Ponting has now surpassed Tendulkar and Lara, that has got a bit to do with age. While I do think that Ponting has entered that category since he hasn't been around for that long, I'll pick from the other two. And if you pointed a gun to my head and said pick one, I'd pick Brian Lara with the proviso that his brain is in gear, because when his brain is in gear I love watching him.

SM: That's an anagram isn't it, Brian and brain?

IC: I mean, he has had his brain in gear a lot, it's just for that short period when he went a bit crazy.

SM: Tony, you're a global cricket follower, you've been so for the last 25-30 years. Your thoughts?

TG: Well, Ian's pretty much said it all, I mean Sobers and Graeme Pollock were the two that pretty much stood out for me. They were pretty much unbelievable and it's pretty hard for me to separate the two but I would go with Sobers because he was pretty much the all-round cricketer. But if it came down to these guys I would go with Lara as well, again with a proviso.

SM: Your definition of greatness?

TG: For me, it's sort of, just the natural thing. It's like a fielder, when you see him run across the turf and pick up the ball, it ends up in the middle of his hand. He doesn't fumble it. I mean guys like Clive Lloyd, Colin Bland, when they chased the ball, for some reason it went into their hands, and out like a rocket. It's just a natural thing for me. Lara, well for me Murali said it all, he reckons he is so far above others in his ability to play spin that it doesn't really matter; that pretty much says it all for me.

SM: Ravi, your definition of greatness?

RS: You mentioned technique, natural skills, ability to handle pressure and ability to score in different conditions meaning adaptability. I would add two more things; consistency and your career, the span of your career. You can't do it just for one or two years. To be rated it should be a decade, a little more than a decade. And one key word that's missing -- the ability to dominate attacks. Ian mentioned Geoffrey Boycott and like he said, he could score a lot of runs but could never dominate the attack. From this list I would pick Tendulkar and Lara. Ponting too has definitely come in there now but he still has a long way to go, maybe another 5-6 years of cricket. But between Tendulkar and Lara, you would have to give it to Lara because he's dominated more often than not over a span of time. Tendulkar has had his years of brilliance, 96-97 against Australia. Now that is the Tendulkar you would remember; not only did he score hundreds but it was dominating.

SM: He dominated the attacks when the attacks were better.

RS: Yes, when the attacks were better and it had an impact on the series. India won that series against Australia. Now Lara, playing in a weak West Indian side, I mean this is the weakest West Indian attack in along time; yet he has still gone out and dominated strong sides like Australia or any other country. Now like Tony mentioned about Murali, I mean to bat that way with such consistency. He batted for long periods to get those runs and he was looking to attack Murali. So that ability to dominate is perhaps the reason why Viv Richards will be the greatest ever.

SM: Is that why there is still perhaps a little question mark over Ponting, his ability to dominate a Murali, or say have a very good series in India on turning tracks?

RS: Yes, if he has to reach that level, he has to play better in the subcontinent in test matches on turning tracks.

SM: That's it on this discussion on Cricinfo Round Table. Hope you enjoyed it, see you next time. Thank you gentlemen for your time.

© Cricinfo

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakvwi/content/story/268732.html

Said enough :thumbsup:[/tscii:eccc653039]

[Nerd]

Lets all salute brian charles lara, now that he has played his last game in India (I dont think he will come back to play tests again). What a player! He deserves a world cup 8-)

My most fav innings of lara is the 153* against australia where he single-handedly won the test match. Outstanding, once in a life-time innings :clap:

[selvakumar]

Lara will be soon hanging his boots AFA one day internationals are concerned.
Indeed, he had made the right decision which even my GOD has not done !

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/current/story/289957.html
Two more matches and we will see the legend walking out the ground ! :(

[Nakeeran]

Selva Sar

The reason why Sachin is hanging around is simple.

The signed endorsement contracts running for more than 2 -3 year s with foreign / leading brands .

Paisa paisa paisa mukyma saar ulagathile
:lol:

[smith]

Sad that we will not be watching lara anymore in one day internationals.

Hope we will see him in tests atleast for a couple of more years.

[selvakumar]

Sad that we will not be watching lara anymore in one day internationals.

Hope we will see him in tests atleast for a couple of more years.

Ofcourse. Lara too has been struggling in the limited version of the game ! His exit will enable the WI selectors to promote a young talent.

/ dig
Nakeeran sir :lol:
Yaa... Sachin ishanging aroundonly for those contracts :lol: without which he must have to struggle to meet his daily ends even.. :lol: Point taken :lol:
/ dig

[thimuru]

Sad that we will not be watching lara anymore in one day internationals.

Hope we will see him in tests atleast for a couple of more years.

Ofcourse. Lara too has been struggling in the limited version of the game ! His exit will enable the WI selectors to promote a young talent.

/ dig
Nakeeran sir :lol:
Yaa... Sachin ishanging aroundonly for those contracts :lol: without which he must have to struggle to meet his daily ends even.. :lol: Point taken :lol:
/ dig

:lol:

[Nakeeran]

Adadadaaaa Selva Sir,

I think U didnt read the CONTRACT with Pepsi/Coke/ Hindustan Lever.

There is a clause which will say - IN CASE OF PREMATURE CLOSURE , THE BENEFICIARY SHOULD COMPENSATE THE PAYER EQUAL TO TWICE THE AMOUNT OF BENEFIT EARNED. :lol:

Unga aalu pavam adharku thaan kavalaipadugiraaru I think. All those running endorsements should be in force for 2-3 years for which he must have got a hefty sum.
Thideernu retire ( or sacked ) news vandha avainga ellarum case podamaataangalo saaru :wink: :lol:

[Nerd]

I think U didnt read the CONTRACT with Pepsi/Coke/ Hindustan Lever.

There is a clause which will say - IN CASE OF PREMATURE CLOSURE , THE BENEFICIARY SHOULD COMPENSATE THE PAYER EQUAL TO TWICE THE AMOUNT OF BENEFIT EARNED. :lol:


hmmm... appuRam ?? :lol:

[Jabroni]

Selvakumar

Lara has been struggling in ODIs? LOL.

You are talking without any facts on your hands.

This year, he played 9 matches, and scored 314 at 44.86.

I think Lara has one more year of ODI in him.

Lara's departure from ODI will leave WI as the best MINNOW

Bangladesh is stepping up. Who knows they can beat WI regularly soon.

Admiration to Lara for the way he performs even in his twilight of his career.

[Nerd]

Salutes to you Brian Charles Lara :notworthy:

You have been an outstanding player and it will be really hard to replace you in the international arena.

My most favorite innings of lara is his 153* against the aussies, where he singlehandedly won the match. I was jumping at home after he hit that last boundary, I wont normally do that for any non-Indian victories :)

[ajithfederer]

Lara :clap: :notworthy:

One of the most entertaining batsmen of all time........ 8-)

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Did I entertain you?

Crowd : Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssss!!!


I couldn control my emotions seriously i cried :cry: A real Gem says Goodbye!!!


:notworthy: Lara you are great :notworthy:

[P_R]

Salutes to you Brian Charles Lara :notworthy:

You have been an outstanding player and it will be really hard to replace you in the international arena.

My most favorite innings of lara is his 153* against the aussies, where he singlehandedly won the match. I was jumping at home after he hit that last boundary, I wont normally do that for any non-Indian victories :)

He was fantastic that whole 99 series was fantastic. The Bridgetown century you mention is of course the finest. How many times we have struggle all alone. Battling hundreds against Aus and SA. Even his last test in Aus was a double hundred in a losing cause. The next best in his team was far far below. When Hooper's WI got whitewashed in SL, in one match Lara made centuries both innings (a double in the first) and still they lost.

All this not to mention the innumerable number of times he was lead the sides from precarious positions to unbelievable wins in ODIs.

It's still not sunk in that Lara is not going to be around :clap:

[littlemaster1982]

I have no words to describe the mastery he had over the game.

Thank you Lara, for entertaining us for nearly two decades. Cricket will not be the same without you.

:notworthy: To the greatest batsman ever :notworthy:

[aanaa]

hats off lara
have a nice rest

[steveaustin]

When it comes to entertainment, purely no one gives us such pleasure.

Watching Brian Lara at crease is absolute pleasure than any other things in cricket. When it comes to style and flamboyance, no one never gets near to him. His breathtaking strokes put us in the edge of the seat. His batting style is unique.

Greatest ever batsmen on the earth and may be even in space without doubt. His lone ranger acts are just like thrilling movies and racing cars, flights at high speeds.

http://www.wittysparks.com/2007/04/21/farewell-brian-lara/

[wrap07]

Absolutely right. Lara is a zone player. He takes us to a diferent zone where elegance, style and beauty are personified in his strokes. The Enjoyment lara has given to us is immeasurable and he is a sight to behold

[directhit]

[tscii:d8752c3381]http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/serialisations/article3694486.ece


Lara’s quixotic impact within the four walls of the West Indies dressing-room is, anyhow, beyond the scope of this appreciation. Lara the batsman can be assessed objectively on what we saw, rather than what we did not see. And any fair-minded assessment could only conclude that he must be one of the finest entertainers to have played in this or any other era.

For entertainment was the creed by which he lived as a batsman. Many talk the talk but Lara, undeniably, walked the walk. Records and statistics must have been important to him — how else does a batsman galvanise himself to score 501 in a county match against Durham? — but the means were never sacrificed to the ends. “Did I entertain you?” he bellowed to the spectators in the newly minted Kensington stand at the end of his last match. They cheered, but not loudly enough. “Did I entertain you?” he asked again. And even those in the anti-Lara camp could not deny it.

It is the West Indian way, of course. If, broadly, batsmanship can be split into two schools — the roundheads and the cavaliers — then West Indies have always specialised in the latter. It is the main reason why West Indies cricket is so cherished beyond narrow international boundaries and why the current decline is felt so deeply and so widely. Cricket, put simply, is more fun played the West Indian way. It is to Lara’s great credit that, whatever the circumstances, he stayed faithful to that particular creed.

Lara was in the tradition of great batsmen for whom the fundamentals were essentially self-taught, for whom technique was always the servant and not the master. His eye for the ball and his co-ordination were granted by nature, and nurture in Trinidad did the rest. With his brothers and the community of Cantaro in the Santa Cruz valley to sustain him, Lara’s upbringing may not have been as solitary as Don Bradman’s, but his early methods bring the Don to mind: for a stump and a golf ball substitute a broomstick and a lime or a marble.

Such was his subsequent impact as a schoolboy batsman that Tony Cozier would write in these pages \ of his record-breaking spree in 1994 that “there was no real surprise among his countrymen — simply the feeling that his inevitable date with destiny had arrived rather more suddenly than expected”.

This schoolboy brilliance did not, it must be said, extend to the Youth World Cup in Australia in 1988, when I first came across Lara as an opposing captain. Word certainly had it that he was special, but a combination of poor outback pitches and fierce heat (appropriately, James Boiling had a good tournament for England) made batting far from easy. With just one half-century in the tournament, Lara flopped. But within three years he was captaining Trinidad and had become the owner of a maroon cap. Two years later, he played his great innings of 277 at Sydney, described by Rohan Kanhai, no stranger to instinct and individuality at the crease, as “one of the greatest innings I have ever seen”.

There was no looking back after that — only a question of how far he would go and how many records he would break. What, then, made him stand out? Four things, I think. Barry Richards once said of Garry Sobers that he was the only 360-degree player in the game. He was referring, I think, to his backlift and follow-through, which routinely travelled through a full arc. Lara might well be described so, too, not just for his backlift, which reached the perpendicular when he was “on the go”, but also for where he could hit the ball — if not quite 360 degrees, then as near as dammit. No other contemporary player, save perhaps Mohammad Azharuddin, could deflect the ball so finely and so powerfully with a turn of the blade and flick of the wrists. Lara had subtlety in an age of power and brute force.

This unrestricted repertoire, the widest of arcs being open to him, and the ability to hit good balls to the boundary made him uniquely feared by opposing captains. You might worry about Adam Gilchrist, say, butchering an attack and smashing a bowler to smithereens, but Lara made captains, not bowlers, look silly.

If you knew you were going to die, you’d prefer a single bludgeoning blow to the head, or a quick bullet to the brain, rather than death by a thousand ever-so-precise cuts. Eleven fielders were never enough; there were always gaps to plug. When he scored his 375 against my England team, I remember moving first slip out when Lara had scored 291. He edged the very next ball right where first slip had been. I’d love to know whether it was deliberate; I always doubted it, simply on the basis that such a level of genius was beyond my comprehension.

Thirdly, Lara was undoubtedly the best player of spin in his era, an era that did not lack for world-class spinners. There might not have been such abundance of quality as before, but in Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, he came up against three of the greatest ever. No one has played Murali better than Lara in Sri Lanka in 2001-02. He hit 688 runs at 114 and reduced the maestro to impotency (against everyone else Murali was omnipotent, bowling Sri Lanka to a 3-0 win). It was no coincidence, perhaps, that it was against Lara’s West Indies in 1999 that Warne was dropped for the first and last time in his Test career.

That series saw Lara at the peak of his powers, and his unbeaten 153 to win the Barbados Test is the fourth reason he stood out. Great batsmen play great innings, and on that day Lara created, I believe, the best innings I have seen either as player or observer of the game. England were watching in Lahore, where we were preparing for the 1999 World Cup, and no other contemporary batsman would have had the effect of keeping a bunch of professional cricketers glued to the screen until the small hours of the morning. It was a stunning innings. “Christ,” one of the team said to me, “I wish you’d get as excited by some of our players.” Well, honesty always was my downfall. [/tscii:d8752c3381]

[CEDYBLUE]

[tscii:ca811dc123]http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/serialisations/article3694486.ece


Lara’s quixotic impact within the four walls of the West Indies dressing-room is, anyhow, beyond the scope of this appreciation. Lara the batsman can be assessed objectively on what we saw, rather than what we did not see. And any fair-minded assessment could only conclude that he must be one of the finest entertainers to have played in this or any other era.

For entertainment was the creed by which he lived as a batsman. Many talk the talk but Lara, undeniably, walked the walk. Records and statistics must have been important to him — how else does a batsman galvanise himself to score 501 in a county match against Durham? — but the means were never sacrificed to the ends. “Did I entertain you?” he bellowed to the spectators in the newly minted Kensington stand at the end of his last match. They cheered, but not loudly enough. “Did I entertain you?” he asked again. And even those in the anti-Lara camp could not deny it.

It is the West Indian way, of course. If, broadly, batsmanship can be split into two schools — the roundheads and the cavaliers — then West Indies have always specialised in the latter. It is the main reason why West Indies cricket is so cherished beyond narrow international boundaries and why the current decline is felt so deeply and so widely. Cricket, put simply, is more fun played the West Indian way. It is to Lara’s great credit that, whatever the circumstances, he stayed faithful to that particular creed.

Lara was in the tradition of great batsmen for whom the fundamentals were essentially self-taught, for whom technique was always the servant and not the master. His eye for the ball and his co-ordination were granted by nature, and nurture in Trinidad did the rest. With his brothers and the community of Cantaro in the Santa Cruz valley to sustain him, Lara’s upbringing may not have been as solitary as Don Bradman’s, but his early methods bring the Don to mind: for a stump and a golf ball substitute a broomstick and a lime or a marble.

Such was his subsequent impact as a schoolboy batsman that Tony Cozier would write in these pages \ of his record-breaking spree in 1994 that “there was no real surprise among his countrymen — simply the feeling that his inevitable date with destiny had arrived rather more suddenly than expected”.

This schoolboy brilliance did not, it must be said, extend to the Youth World Cup in Australia in 1988, when I first came across Lara as an opposing captain. Word certainly had it that he was special, but a combination of poor outback pitches and fierce heat (appropriately, James Boiling had a good tournament for England) made batting far from easy. With just one half-century in the tournament, Lara flopped. But within three years he was captaining Trinidad and had become the owner of a maroon cap. Two years later, he played his great innings of 277 at Sydney, described by Rohan Kanhai, no stranger to instinct and individuality at the crease, as “one of the greatest innings I have ever seen”.

There was no looking back after that — only a question of how far he would go and how many records he would break. What, then, made him stand out? Four things, I think. Barry Richards once said of Garry Sobers that he was the only 360-degree player in the game. He was referring, I think, to his backlift and follow-through, which routinely travelled through a full arc. Lara might well be described so, too, not just for his backlift, which reached the perpendicular when he was “on the go”, but also for where he could hit the ball — if not quite 360 degrees, then as near as dammit. No other contemporary player, save perhaps Mohammad Azharuddin, could deflect the ball so finely and so powerfully with a turn of the blade and flick of the wrists. Lara had subtlety in an age of power and brute force.

This unrestricted repertoire, the widest of arcs being open to him, and the ability to hit good balls to the boundary made him uniquely feared by opposing captains. You might worry about Adam Gilchrist, say, butchering an attack and smashing a bowler to smithereens, but Lara made captains, not bowlers, look silly.

If you knew you were going to die, you’d prefer a single bludgeoning blow to the head, or a quick bullet to the brain, rather than death by a thousand ever-so-precise cuts. Eleven fielders were never enough; there were always gaps to plug. When he scored his 375 against my England team, I remember moving first slip out when Lara had scored 291. He edged the very next ball right where first slip had been. I’d love to know whether it was deliberate; I always doubted it, simply on the basis that such a level of genius was beyond my comprehension.

Thirdly, Lara was undoubtedly the best player of spin in his era, an era that did not lack for world-class spinners. There might not have been such abundance of quality as before, but in Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, he came up against three of the greatest ever. No one has played Murali better than Lara in Sri Lanka in 2001-02. He hit 688 runs at 114 and reduced the maestro to impotency (against everyone else Murali was omnipotent, bowling Sri Lanka to a 3-0 win). It was no coincidence, perhaps, that it was against Lara’s West Indies in 1999 that Warne was dropped for the first and last time in his Test career.

That series saw Lara at the peak of his powers, and his unbeaten 153 to win the Barbados Test is the fourth reason he stood out. Great batsmen play great innings, and on that day Lara created, I believe, the best innings I have seen either as player or observer of the game. England were watching in Lahore, where we were preparing for the 1999 World Cup, and no other contemporary batsman would have had the effect of keeping a bunch of professional cricketers glued to the screen until the small hours of the morning. It was a stunning innings. “Christ,” one of the team said to me, “I wish you’d get as excited by some of our players.” Well, honesty always was my downfall. [/tscii:ca811dc123]


:clap: :notworthy:

[wrap07]

[tscii:c192b95925]http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/serialisations/article3694486.ece


Lara’s quixotic impact within the four walls of the West Indies dressing-room is, anyhow, beyond the scope of this appreciation. Lara the batsman can be assessed objectively on what we saw, rather than what we did not see. And any fair-minded assessment could only conclude that he must be one of the finest entertainers to have played in this or any other era.

For entertainment was the creed by which he lived as a batsman. Many talk the talk but Lara, undeniably, walked the walk. Records and statistics must have been important to him — how else does a batsman galvanise himself to score 501 in a county match against Durham? — but the means were never sacrificed to the ends. “Did I entertain you?” he bellowed to the spectators in the newly minted Kensington stand at the end of his last match. They cheered, but not loudly enough. “Did I entertain you?” he asked again. And even those in the anti-Lara camp could not deny it.

It is the West Indian way, of course. If, broadly, batsmanship can be split into two schools — the roundheads and the cavaliers — then West Indies have always specialised in the latter. It is the main reason why West Indies cricket is so cherished beyond narrow international boundaries and why the current decline is felt so deeply and so widely. Cricket, put simply, is more fun played the West Indian way. It is to Lara’s great credit that, whatever the circumstances, he stayed faithful to that particular creed.

Lara was in the tradition of great batsmen for whom the fundamentals were essentially self-taught, for whom technique was always the servant and not the master. His eye for the ball and his co-ordination were granted by nature, and nurture in Trinidad did the rest. With his brothers and the community of Cantaro in the Santa Cruz valley to sustain him, Lara’s upbringing may not have been as solitary as Don Bradman’s, but his early methods bring the Don to mind: for a stump and a golf ball substitute a broomstick and a lime or a marble.

Such was his subsequent impact as a schoolboy batsman that Tony Cozier would write in these pages \ of his record-breaking spree in 1994 that “there was no real surprise among his countrymen — simply the feeling that his inevitable date with destiny had arrived rather more suddenly than expected”.

This schoolboy brilliance did not, it must be said, extend to the Youth World Cup in Australia in 1988, when I first came across Lara as an opposing captain. Word certainly had it that he was special, but a combination of poor outback pitches and fierce heat (appropriately, James Boiling had a good tournament for England) made batting far from easy. With just one half-century in the tournament, Lara flopped. But within three years he was captaining Trinidad and had become the owner of a maroon cap. Two years later, he played his great innings of 277 at Sydney, described by Rohan Kanhai, no stranger to instinct and individuality at the crease, as “one of the greatest innings I have ever seen”.

There was no looking back after that — only a question of how far he would go and how many records he would break. What, then, made him stand out? Four things, I think. Barry Richards once said of Garry Sobers that he was the only 360-degree player in the game. He was referring, I think, to his backlift and follow-through, which routinely travelled through a full arc. Lara might well be described so, too, not just for his backlift, which reached the perpendicular when he was “on the go”, but also for where he could hit the ball — if not quite 360 degrees, then as near as dammit. No other contemporary player, save perhaps Mohammad Azharuddin, could deflect the ball so finely and so powerfully with a turn of the blade and flick of the wrists. Lara had subtlety in an age of power and brute force.

This unrestricted repertoire, the widest of arcs being open to him, and the ability to hit good balls to the boundary made him uniquely feared by opposing captains. You might worry about Adam Gilchrist, say, butchering an attack and smashing a bowler to smithereens, but Lara made captains, not bowlers, look silly.

If you knew you were going to die, you’d prefer a single bludgeoning blow to the head, or a quick bullet to the brain, rather than death by a thousand ever-so-precise cuts. Eleven fielders were never enough; there were always gaps to plug. When he scored his 375 against my England team, I remember moving first slip out when Lara had scored 291. He edged the very next ball right where first slip had been. I’d love to know whether it was deliberate; I always doubted it, simply on the basis that such a level of genius was beyond my comprehension.

Thirdly, Lara was undoubtedly the best player of spin in his era, an era that did not lack for world-class spinners. There might not have been such abundance of quality as before, but in Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, he came up against three of the greatest ever. No one has played Murali better than Lara in Sri Lanka in 2001-02. He hit 688 runs at 114 and reduced the maestro to impotency (against everyone else Murali was omnipotent, bowling Sri Lanka to a 3-0 win). It was no coincidence, perhaps, that it was against Lara’s West Indies in 1999 that Warne was dropped for the first and last time in his Test career.

That series saw Lara at the peak of his powers, and his unbeaten 153 to win the Barbados Test is the fourth reason he stood out. Great batsmen play great innings, and on that day Lara created, I believe, the best innings I have seen either as player or observer of the game. England were watching in Lahore, where we were preparing for the 1999 World Cup, and no other contemporary batsman would have had the effect of keeping a bunch of professional cricketers glued to the screen until the small hours of the morning. It was a stunning innings. “Christ,” one of the team said to me, “I wish you’d get as excited by some of our players.” Well, honesty always was my downfall. [/tscii:c192b95925]


:clap: :clap:

[directhit]

[tscii:85786f67fc]That series saw Lara at the peak of his powers, and his unbeaten 153 to win the Barbados Test is the fourth reason he stood out. Great batsmen play great innings, and on that day Lara created, I believe, the best innings I have seen either as player or observer of the game. England were watching in Lahore, where we were preparing for the 1999 World Cup, and no other contemporary batsman would have had the effect of keeping a bunch of professional cricketers glued to the screen until the small hours of the morning. It was a stunning innings. “Christ,” one of the team said to me, “I wish you’d get as excited by some of our players.” Well, honesty always was my downfall.[/tscii:85786f67fc] nadu raathiri TV paathukittu kathikittirundhein :P :P and even closing my eyes/ears whenever Ambrose/Walsh took strike - esp Walsh :lol:

[littlemaster1982]

[tscii:aaf425a26d]The spectacular Mr Lara (http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/375538.html)

Kumar Sangakkara

You cannot discuss West Indies batting in the modern era without bringing up the names of Sir Vivian Richards and Brian Lara. I grew up watching Richards murder bowling attacks, chewing his ever-present gum with a swagger and arrogance all his own.

West Indian cricket has been a journey of thrills, fun, amazing peaks and disappointing troughs. For a team shackled with the burden of a heroic past, impeded in its development by wrangling within its cricket board, Brian Charles Lara has stood out and stood tall as one of the greatest batsmen the world has seen.

To an observer who is not West Indian, the Caribbean attitude is a strange one. Where most of us show immense emotion when confronted with challenges, many West Indian players hardly seem to change expression - whether they have won or lost, scored a duck or a hundred. This relaxed, laidback attitude, which has unfairly drawn huge criticism for being unsuitable to the pursuit of relentless success as styled by the Australians, has, however, succeeded in producing some of the most versatile and complete cricketers to have ever played the game. And that is exactly what Brian is: versatile and complete.

Like all great batsmen he has scored runs in every corner of the cricketing world against all the best attacks. What sets Brian apart from the other greats is the manner and attitude in which he wields the willow. There is panache; there is flamboyance, unpredictability, periods of consistent brilliance, and inexplicable runs of bad form. Never one to have been praised as a true team man, he single-handedly shouldered the burden of carrying West Indies' batting through a decade.

I have been unfortunate enough as a Sri Lanka cricketer to have witnessed him at his best at close quarters. The West Indian tour to Sri Lanka in November 2001 was The Brian Lara Show. In just six innings he scored 688 runs at 114.66, with three hundreds and a fifty. He did so at a time when Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas were at their lethal best on Sri Lankan pitches that had bite, bounce, turn and reverse swing. Yet West Indies still lost 0-3.

Brian's technique and style are not orthodox. Though he starts with a beautifully balanced stance, he progresses into a flamboyant and outrageously high back-lift that would be a coaching book no-no. His initial movement seems to be a spilt step-jump that flings his body into the position required to play his shots. Although unorthodox, these two movements, coupled with a fantastic eye and even better hands, allow him to generate incredible bat speed and power at the moment of impact. His sometimes extravagant follow-through is the result of this bat speed. Many are the times when, though his feet are nowhere near the required position they should be in to play a shot, the correctness of his balance and head position frees his hands and allows them to catch up with the ball at the exact right moment.

He is also the most destructive player of spin I have seen. To my mind he is the only batsman to have effectively tamed the threat of Murali and dominated him and Shane Warne. Brian has all the cliché attributes of a great player of spin: a good eye, quick feet, the ability to read from the hand, and an attacking attitude, combined with the most solid of forward defences. But to my mind what truly sets him apart and makes him such a fine player of spin, better than the rest, is that he is not content to react to the bowler. He keeps challenging himself in the middle of an innings to exploit the one area of the field the bowler wants him to exploit. I have seen Murali turn the ball square across him, with no midwicket, enticing him to play against the turn, and I have seen Brian keep driving, flicking and sweeping into that one vacant spot. Doing it once or twice is comprehensible, but to watch him do it for an entire session, it made you raise your eyebrows in amazement and wonder.

His nemesis in international cricket for a long time was Glenn McGrath, whose success against Brian was based on his ability to exploit the angle of bowling around the wicket. When Glenn came around the wicket to Brian it was almost a given that he would edge to slip. This was a matter of hot debate in our dressing room: many are the times we have tried to replicate the strategy, many are the times I have watched other teams attempt to do so, both with no great continued success.

So the question remains: was it really the one technical chink in Brian's armour or was it McGrath's special ability? Murali, wanting an answer, in his own direct and engagingly blunt fashion asked Brian himself when we were having dinner together at Mahaweli Reach in Kandy once. "Brian," Murali said, "why are you getting out all the time to McGrath?" Brian's answer was: "Murali, I have to get out somehow, and if I get out to McGrath, so what, it does not bother me." He simply did not believe there was a problem.

This was a personality trait that helped make Brian so successful. The situation of a match did not seem to bother him - the pressure, the expectations, his form; it just didn¹t seem to prey on his mind. Brian played as if for the moment. Each ball a fresh start, each stroke unhindered by the immediate past. He always believed that his ability would triumph. It is a degree of self-awareness and self-confidence that is extremely hard to achieve.

Maybe it was this, too, that undermined his effectiveness as a leader and allowed the perception to develop that he was not always a total team man. I cannot be sure this was the case, not having shared a dressing room with him. I question whether being so much better than the rest made it hard for him to relate properly to the lesser players in the team. Although he was certainly an astute and intelligent captain, he struggled to get full team cooperation and respect. It is hard to drag a team along that does not fully believe in you.

One question mark I have in my mind about Brian is: why the bad periods? He was brilliant, but he could also be inconsistent. On song, unstoppable; but there were times when he struggled badly. Technically he didn't change all that much through his career. It could just be that he couldn't synchronise his back-lift and exaggerated trigger movement. He needed rhythm as a batsman.

If you assess his achievements, he undisputedly ranks at the very top - 501 in first-class cricket for Warwickshire, 375 not out and then 400 not out in Test cricket; the highest run-scorer in world cricket for years until Tendulkar pipped him recently. That he achieved most of these feats when the opposition was swarming all over his team is remarkable.

However, perhaps the true value of Brian was his entertainment power. Whatever he did on the field he did with style and grace. He was not just a cricketer, he was a performer. There have been many great players, but few with the same ability to thrill a crowd. With Brian batting, the record books were constantly threatened. Every game had the potential to produce something amazing. When he was batting well, there was no greater sight in world cricket.

[/tscii:aaf425a26d]

[directhit]

LM - :bow: :bow: i was about to post it :ty:

[wrap07]

:clap: :D

[crajkumar_be]

We are lucky :notworthy:

[ajithfederer]

Brian Lara 102 v Australia - 7th Match - C & U Series 96-97 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1wo2OZSh4Y)

Lara 103 n.o. vs Pakistan - 9th Match - C & U Series 96-97 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jgooHZFTB8)

Vintage Brian Lara(Back 2 back centuries) and the culturally famous Carlton United Tri-Series Cricket of the 90's. Was very much a part of my school life.

:clap:

I think this particular series was won by Pakistan. Pakistan had a great team that time with the likes of Sohail, Haq, Zaheer Elahi, Moin, Wasim, Saqlain and Waqar. Now it is a mere shadow of itself. :cry:

[directhit]

:ty: AF, wanted to watch again the last few overs of the chase vs aussies 98-99 scoring 153* (almost getting out but thx to Healy) with ambrose and walsh giving him company! tht IMO is the best ever of Lara 8-)

[Sid_316]

Thanks AF

[Sid_316]

:ty: AF, wanted to watch again the last few overs of the chase vs aussies 98-99 scoring 153* (almost getting out but thx to Healy) with ambrose and walsh giving him company! tht IMO is the best ever of Lara 8-)


:exactly: And that series was so special! with the test match series drawn 2-2 the 5 match one day series was drawn 2-2 :P .It went to the last ball of the match and was stopped due to crowd trouble :P. But that series belonged to the prince,thanga thalaivar lara 8-)

[ajithfederer]

Brian Lara 153 vs Pakistan - 1993 - Champions Trophy Final (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHBV5OEudG8)

Another nostalgic 90's cricket affair
:notworthy:

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:a29a9d8990]County news
Lara lined up for Surrey comeback
Cricinfo staff

April 16, 2010

Comments: 25 | New! Login via | Text size: A | A
Brian Lara is reported to have already netted at The Oval © AFP


Related LinksPlayers/Officials: Brian Lara
Series/Tournaments: Friends Provident T20 | England Domestic Season
Teams: England | Surrey | West Indies


Surrey have confirmed they are in talks with Brian Lara in a bid to lure him out of retirement to play Twenty20 for them this season. Lara, who retired from international cricket after the 2007 World Cup, has not played competitively for two years.

"We have been in discussion with Brian regarding his possible involvement with the club," a Surrey spokesman told the BBC. "However we have no further comment to make at this stage."

Lara has already been in the nets at The Oval this week and has had talks with Surrey's cricket manager Chris Adams and chief executive Paul Sheldon.

The Indian press recently speculated Lara was planning a comeback there. A deal was said to be done with the Kochi franchise which joins the IPL next season, but nothing came of that.

Retirement has not come easy to Lara, and he has hinted he could be lured back several times. Last year he said of Twenty20: "I believe that at some point in time people are going to understand that they are tactical ways of playing it and then you are going to see the true talent come out."

Lara had a stint with the unofficial ICL in 2007-08, where he had a forgettable tournament with the bat and as captain of Mumbai Champs.

Surrey already have Andrew Symonds, the Australian all-rounder, registered for the domestic English Twenty20 competition, and - depending on his national commitments - Piyush Chawla, the Indian legspinner. The rules permit counties to enlist four overseas players in all for the tournament, with a maximum of two featuring in a single game.

http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/current/story/456234.html[/tscii:a29a9d8990]

[VinodKumar's]

we should have a thread on"The Prince of Port-of-Spain" Vs "The Prince of Kolkatta"...
prince of calcutta cannot b compared with prince of trinidad.in fact none of the current batsmen can b compared with the prince of trinidad.he is way above everyone else playing at the moment.

Lara - The day he stepped in to the west indies cricket -- started the downfall of the great West indian team.... while he himeself was creating records, his team sufferred ..... from one of the most dreadest team to the most dearest team ..... lara could not transform his own sucess ..to that of his team.. his team lost its golden period.

Allthough now i beleive he is learning ... the recent success against india is any indicator then i think he is now making amend for his past mistakes.......

Sachin is excellent no one can match him....

Ippdilama yaravathu yosipaanga :?

[raghavendran]

gr8 that thr is a thrd to my fav player.... :clap: :notworthy: :notworthy:

[directhit]

Lara lined up for Surrey comeback :victory: :victory: :smokesmirk:

Surrey have confirmed they are in talks with Brian Lara in a bid to lure him out of retirement to play Twenty20 for them this season. Lara, who retired from international cricket after the 2007 World Cup, has not played competitively for two years.

"We have been in discussion with Brian regarding his possible involvement with the club," a Surrey spokesman told the BBC. "However we have no further comment to make at this stage."

Lara has already been in the nets at The Oval this week and has had talks with Surrey's cricket manager Chris Adams and chief executive Paul Sheldon.

The Indian press recently speculated Lara was planning a comeback there. A deal was said to be done with the Kochi franchise which joins the IPL next season, but nothing came of that.

Retirement has not come easy to Lara, and he has hinted he could be lured back several times. Last year he said of Twenty20: "I believe that at some point in time people are going to understand that they are tactical ways of playing it and then you are going to see the true talent come out."

Lara had a stint with the unofficial ICL in 2007-08, where he had a forgettable tournament with the bat and as captain of Mumbai Champs.

Surrey already have Andrew Symonds, the Australian all-rounder, registered for the domestic English Twenty20 competition, and - depending on his national commitments - Piyush Chawla, the Indian legspinner. The rules permit counties to enlist four overseas players in all for the tournament, with a maximum of two featuring in a single game.

http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/456234.html

now, if only CSK bids and gets him for IPL4 :boo: :boo:

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj471z-Awz8

WEST INDIES vs SOUTH AFRICA, 1996 WORLD CUP 1/4 FINAL

[raghavendran]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj471z-Awz8

WEST INDIES vs SOUTH AFRICA, 1996 WORLD CUP 1/4 FINALajithfederer :clap: :clap: ...thalaivar lara..the real prince.. :notworthy: :notworthy: :ty:

[steveaustin]

Sorry for the tardy post. Somehow I missed out this one earlier. :oops:

Lara's return to competitive cricket - (June 2010)

Pakistan 165 for 5 (Umar 51, Harris 3-26) beat MCC 159 for 5 (Blizzard 73, Shoaib 2-19) by six runs (http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakistan-2010/engine/current/match/462605.html)

Chasing a challenging target Aiden Blizzard kept MCC's hopes alive till the final over of the match. He put on 94 with Brian Lara - who managed a 32-ball 37 on his return to competitive cricket - but his sparkling 73 went in vain in the absence of any able support after Lara departed.

With the old warhorses Brian Lara and Sourav Ganguly in the batting ranks the target, though stiff, was not out of reach. Though Lara was playing his first match in nearly three years , he never showed any rust as his feet moved in line of the delivery with minimal fuss, and he played his strokes in his inimitable fashion. The raging cuts, the caressed late-cuts and steers, and the strong pull-shots all came stumbling out of the storeroom, as Lara overtook Blizzard, who couldn't have asked for a better birthday gift than standing and admiring the brilliance of the genius.

Lara had started off with a fluent cut against a wide delivery from Umar Gul, who was still warming up in his first over. He followed it with another boundary, as he walked across and pulled over midwicket. At the other end Blizzard was stealing singles and twos and charging the likes of Afridi, who he hit for a handsome six over widish long-on (his second).

Their alliance was steadily loosening the visitors' grip and to the delight of the 4000-strong crowd Gul bounced back with an inswinging yorker that beat Lara's high backlift before going on to splay the stumps.

Brian Lara's still got it (http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakistan-2010/content/image/464949.html?object=52337;page=1)

Brian Lara pulls behind square (http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakistan-2010/content/image/464948.html?object=52337;page=1)

Brian Lara plays the cut short during his 37 (http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakistan-2010/content/image/464945.html?object=52337;page=1)

It seems that he is yet to lose his magical touch with the bat. The high backlift makes him still a treat to watch. 8-)

[steveaustin]

This one seems to be after his retirement and might be the last one even at the first class level!!! I am not sure. (http://www.cricinfo.com/westindies/engine/current/match/318260.html)

Fan's homage (http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakistan-2010/content/image/464949.html?object=52337)

However, in ICL he was a total failure. I think his Mumbai champs finished at the bottom of the table.

[raghavendran]

[url=http://www.cricinfo.com/westindies/engine/current/match/318260.html]

However, in ICL he was a total failure. I think his Mumbai champs finished at the bottom of the table.that was due to his injured right hand..he played the entire4 series wid one hand..he was requested to play by icl to bring in crowds...

[steveaustin]

[tscii:ee66f8a5e5]Building a case for Lara (http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/20101028502500800.htm)

Brian Lara captivated my imagination from the start. I had heard a mention of his name before I went to the Caribbean for the 1990 England tour. When I saw Lara bat in a warm-up match I knew none of the stories had been exaggerated, writes Ted Corbett.

Given a choice between Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar, who would pick any favourite other than Lara?

By the time I met the pair — separately around about the start of the 1990s — I had seen all the great batsmen whose careers began from the end of the Second World War. I missed Don Bradman and Wally Hammond; my school lessons were Test cricket until the early 1950s.

Do I feel deprived? I think not. I have discussed Hammond with plenty of people who knew him, including my mother, a close friend of his wife; and there is no one in cricket who does not have an opinion about The Don. Besides, the figures of both these giants speak louder than words.

I might have been a more rounded writer if I had crossed their paths, although Bradman wrote to me about my namesake Claud Corbett his ghost in the Bodyline series. I am no wiser. Bradman who knew a lot could add nothing to suggestions Claud and I are related.

Afterwards from Len Hutton, Denis Compton, Peter May and Colin Cowdrey; to Tom Graveney and Garfield Sobers, through Neil Harvey, Sunil Gavaskar, the Chappells, the Waughs, Viv Richards and too many others to mention lest they fill the 1200 words given to me for this article, I have seen all the elite batsmen.

So I believe I have a sound basis for judgement.

Lara captivated my imagination from the start. I had heard a mention of his name before I went to the Caribbean for the 1990 England tour. It is more than can be said about the executive on a paper famous for its cricket coverage. “Who is this Brian Lara?” he asked, probably for the last time.

When I saw Lara bat in a warm-up match I knew none of the stories had been exaggerated.

Afterwards we ran into one another at the airport. One of his pals thought it was worth his while to chat to my partner Joanne King; I thought interviewing Lara more profitable. He was reading my account of that match which concentrated largely on his future.

“You have no objection to what I have said?” I asked since he was frowning. “No. This is an international magazine and I need publicity round the world,” he said.

Since there have been similar discussions in every West Indies island while he recounted the hold-up at gun point, how his backlift — perhaps the highest in modern batting — never gave him a moment's concern and in some depth his views on the 21st century game, his own place within it and why West Indies had gone from bad to worse.

My meetings with Tendulkar have been cooler. I was fascinated to see traditional East meet conservative West when he joined Yorkshire. He was still only 19 and reserved to the point of shyness.

One interview yielded me very little but I cannot regret the journey to see him because by the end of that evening I knew that he had much to conquer if he was to lead Yorkshire back to the top.

Ideally he should have gone to another county. Yorkshiremen have fixed ideas, particularly about cricket. “I thought he would dominate our dressing room,” said one veteran, showing that hidebound Yorkshire could not cope with an Indian lad of 19.

Today, 49 Test centuries on, Tendulkar might be a different man, able to lead, to remonstrate with the slackers and to encourage the laggards. As a teenager the county should not have expected him to dominate anything.

He failed to make a century that summer — although the crowds willed him on every time he got near — and left with only a few memories although the team got closer to their sub-continental neighbours through the curry houses where he was a welcome guest. Later, Indians and Pakistanis who were beginning to show their wares in the leagues, found the signpost to Headingley.

Indirectly, Tendulkar begat Adil Rashid and Ajmal Shahzad and one day they will be glad he was their overseas star for half a season.

If the pair become regular England players as well as county stars there will be more reason to be grateful to Tendulkar but we leap ahead at this point.

About the same time Lara was on his way to all sorts of world records, showing style and grace, lightning footwork, ferocious power and stamina for long innings.

One of his greatnesses was that he would take on the finest. There was something extra special about his treatment of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald and Muttiah Muralitharan. When he made his 375 — on a slow pitch at St. Johns, Antigua — I thought it the finest of all the world records, partly because everyone of the England attack went on to gross around 100 Test wickets.

Chris Lewis, Angus Fraser, Andrew Caddick and Phil Tufnell; these are not lambs to the Lara slaughter; all of them won Tests for England; all of them were full-blown cricketers; not one of them bowled really badly on those three days of torment.

Lara has always made batting look easy yet he has had the technique to graft for long periods; contrast him with Kevin Pietersen who seems in too much of a hurry, too desperate to reach a landmark score, too keen even to get his first run.

Lara, a small man, had all the backfoot shots, like the hook that took the record Test score from Sobers. His leg glance was as silky and hit almost as fine as the Richards stroke, but the majestic touch came when he smashed his way through the covers where the giants demonstrate their right to a place on the pantheon. Now his time is done after 16 years. Lara can relax in the grand hilltop house that came with his records from a grateful Trinidad government or in the pub where he and his pals have always gathered at the end of play.

His retirement gives me the chance to think again about my long devotion to his place at the top of the tree and to wonder if I should switch equal dedication to his main rival.

After all Lara did not score as many Test centuries, did not show the stamina which is now standing Tendulkar in such good stead and perhaps ought to lose a point or two for those many West Indies defeats.

No, it is not yet time to ditch a belief I have held so long. But the longer I watch, the more my admiration for Tendulkar grows and one day, who knows, I might be tempted to call him the greatest.

Give or take Don Bradman, of course.[/tscii:ee66f8a5e5]

[raghavendran]

but always lara wil b my fav :)

[steveaustin]

Synopsis of an article from Ted Corbett.

There was an interesting story behind Lara's undefeated 501, the highest first class score. Dermot Reeve, the Warwickshire Captain, approached the Durham Captain Phil Bainbridge at Edgbaston on the final day of their county match which was badly hit by rain and said that he was ready to declare 300 runs behind if Durham set warwickshire a target - any target - that afternoon. However, Bainbridge declined the offer. Annoyed by this, Reeve told Lara, who was on 111 at that time, to bat all day if he want to.

At Lunch, Lara was on 256, asked if he can had time to attack Hanif Mohammed's record of 499. Reeve said, "Go for it" and the rest, as they say, is history. Lara was playing county cricket only six weeks at that time, and he did not realise that if there was no chance of a result the umpires call the game off half an hour early themselves. So on 497, he believed that he had eight overs left until his partner Keith Piper walked down the pitch to say, "You know there are just three balls left, don't you?". The next ball is short and Lara appeared to be used his helmet to deliberately head it, football style, out of the way. The next ball is smashed through covers...... but that left him undefeated on 501 which came off 427 balls with 62 Fours and 10 Sixes.

He started off the day on 111 and took his score to 285* at Lunch and at the time of tea he was on 418* and he was undefeated on 501 when the game was finally called off before the actual time. In a day, he has scored 390 runs which is still a first class record. He became the first batsmen to be involved in two 300+ runs partnerships in a single innings. Totally 802 runs were scored, of which Lara scored 501 runs, while Lara was at the crease which was also a record.

[raghavendran]

Synopsis of an article from Ted Corbett.

There was an interesting story behind Lara's undefeated 501, the highest first class score. Dermot Reeve, the Warwickshire Captain, approached the Durham Captain Phil Bainbridge at Edgbaston on the final day of their county match which was badly hit by rain and said that he was ready to declare 300 runs behind if Durham set warwickshire a target - any target - that afternoon. However, Bainbridge declined the offer. Annoyed by this, Reeve told Lara, who was on 111 at that time, to bat all day if he want to.

At Lunch, Lara was on 256, asked if he can had time to attack Hanif Mohammed's record of 499. Reeve said, "Go for it" and the rest, as they say, is history. Lara was playing county cricket only six weeks at that time, and he did not realise that if there was no chance of a result the umpires call the game off half an hour early themselves. So on 497, he believed that he had eight overs left until his partner Keith Piper walked down the pitch to say, "You know there are just three balls left, don't you?". The next ball is short and Lara appeared to be used his helmet to deliberately head it, football style, out of the way. The next ball is smashed through covers...... but that left him undefeated on 501 which came off 427 balls with 62 Fours and 10 Sixes.

He started off the day on 111 and took his score to 285* at Lunch and at the time of tea he was on 418* and he was undefeated on 501 when the game was finally called off before the actual time. In a day, he has scored 390 runs which is still a first class record. He became the first batsmen to be involved in two 300+ runs partnerships in a single innings. Totally 802 runs were scored, of which Lara scored 501 runs, while Lara was at the crease which was also a record. :notworthy: :notworthy: thats wat u call a special batsman

[raghavendran]

LARA'S BEST FROM 1992 WC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01Lq64_ykNc)
the first..wacking manoj prabhakar over six..pure timing..the sound of bat meeting ball says it all
the second..flick off the hips of a ball from aaquibjaved..the ball wasnt thr in place to play that shot..lara pick up the length very early and places it to a boundary..it wasn short enough to play that shot..but still finds the fence..
then 3rd from prabhakar again..again picks up the lenght early and plays an unlikely square drive by taking the front foot outa the way..again conversion of decent balls into boundary balls
4th...smashing cover drive off steve waugh...the bat swing comin out of the typical long back lift..vintage lara.. not many other special things in world better than seeing lara bat.. :notworthy: :notworthy:

[Puliyan_Biryani]

Lara's straight six of Allan Donald in 2003 World Cup :notworthy:

Anybody has the links for that video?

[raghavendran]

Lara's straight six of Allan Donald in 2003 World Cup :notworthy:

Anybody has the links for that video?yes thats a brilliant innings..from 50/2 in 20 ovs they wil reach 275.andhe six ode ling ille.. :(

[steveaustin]

Rocks sign Lara, Sidebottom for T20 (http://www.cricinfo.com/zim2020-10/content/story/485582.html)

Zimbabwean franchise Southern Rocks have signed former West Indies batsman Brian Lara and former England fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom for the Stanbic Bank Twenty20 competition, which starts on November 13 in Harare.

Sidebottom, 32, played 22 Tests, 25 ODIs and 18 Twenty20s for England, including the recent World Twenty20 triumph in the Caribbean, in an international career that spanned nine years before his international retirement in September. Lara, for many years regarded alongside Sachin Tendulkar as one of the best batsmen of his era, retired after the 2007 World Cup and has not played much competitive cricket since.

However, Lara had a stint with the unofficial Indian Cricket League in 2007-08, where he had a forgettable tournament with the bat and as captain of Mumbai Champs, and has maintained ambitions of coming out of retirement to try his hand at Twenty20 - a format that hadn't taken off internationally when he retired.

He was briefly in talks to play for Surrey in the English domestic Twenty20 tournament last season, and though those discussions fell through Lara was part of the MCC team that played the touring Pakistanis in a Twenty20 at Lord's in June, striking a 32-ball 37 before he was bowled by an Umar Gul yorker.

"We have signed Sidebottom and we have also confirmed the Lara deal, so we are done with the acquisition of new personnel and we are just ready to get going," Rocks chief executive Givemore Makoni told the Zimbabwe Independent.

"It was a bad season the last time on but we have achieved good results in the competitions that have been played so far. In Sidebottom we signed a player who has proven himself on the big stage and with Lara we just have got ourselves the best batsman to grace the game of cricket."

Rocks also secured the services of Stuart Matsikenyeri and Tatenda Taibu before the start of the current season, but have lost Sean Ervine, who has signed for Mutare-based franchise Mountaineers.

[raghavendran]

Rocks sign Lara, Sidebottom for T20 (http://www.cricinfo.com/zim2020-10/content/story/485582.html)

Zimbabwean franchise Southern Rocks have signed former West Indies batsman Brian Lara and former England fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom for the Stanbic Bank Twenty20 competition, which starts on November 13 in Harare.

Sidebottom, 32, played 22 Tests, 25 ODIs and 18 Twenty20s for England, including the recent World Twenty20 triumph in the Caribbean, in an international career that spanned nine years before his international retirement in September. Lara, for many years regarded alongside Sachin Tendulkar as one of the best batsmen of his era, retired after the 2007 World Cup and has not played much competitive cricket since.

However, Lara had a stint with the unofficial Indian Cricket League in 2007-08, where he had a forgettable tournament with the bat and as captain of Mumbai Champs, and has maintained ambitions of coming out of retirement to try his hand at Twenty20 - a format that hadn't taken off internationally when he retired.

He was briefly in talks to play for Surrey in the English domestic Twenty20 tournament last season, and though those discussions fell through Lara was part of the MCC team that played the touring Pakistanis in a Twenty20 at Lord's in June, striking a 32-ball 37 before he was bowled by an Umar Gul yorker.

"We have signed Sidebottom and we have also confirmed the Lara deal, so we are done with the acquisition of new personnel and we are just ready to get going," Rocks chief executive Givemore Makoni told the Zimbabwe Independent.

"It was a bad season the last time on but we have achieved good results in the competitions that have been played so far. In Sidebottom we signed a player who has proven himself on the big stage and with Lara we just have got ourselves the best batsman to grace the game of cricket."

Rocks also secured the services of Stuart Matsikenyeri and Tatenda Taibu before the start of the current season, but have lost Sean Ervine, who has signed for Mutare-based franchise Mountaineers.wil it work :roll:

[raghavendran]

biggest over in test match (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juPqTbTU4cU)
pure domination :notworthy: :notworthy:

[steveaustin]

Few interesting comments on Lara from Cricinfo.com during ongoing Ind Vs NZ match


Ahmed: "Lara is playin so well in dat match..give some commentary to add fuel to it..plzzz....!!"


Ok here we go .. Some one to Lara: Full in length and outside off and then the mesmerising drama begins. That beautiful high-back lift takes the bat to its apogee before it comes crashing down at breakneck speed. The ball is just lifting off the turf and spinning away when the bat comes down to whiplash it over point. Fabulously gorgeous hit. Whaddaplayyaaa. Ok this is what I can type without watching that game. I am sure BCL would have played one such shot at least. He has just reached 50 I hear


Fazu: "And Lara is out for 65 off 47 balls caught by Mutizwa bowled by Price"

[steveaustin]

Lara back in style but failed to finish on winning note (http://www.espncricinfo.com/zim2020-10/content/story/486921.html)

Despite the presence of the great Brian Lara in their ranks, and his contribution of 65 runs, Southern Rocks were unable to match Mashonaland Eagles, who made a good start to the tournament with a 28-run victory at Harare Sports Club. As the second edition of the Stanbic Bank 20 got underway, the hot, sunny weather was ideal for cricket and a crowd of several hundred had entered the ground in time for the start of play.

Southern Rocks put the Eagles in to bat on winning the toss, and some tight bowling kept the batsmen under reasonable control at the start. Chamu Chibhabha and Chris Harris worked their way through the batting line-up, and Eagles slipped to 114 for 6 when Somerset batsman Nick Compton was run out for a 49-ball 70.

Chibhabha was on a hat-trick when he removed Andrew Hall and Regis Chakabva with consecutive deliveries in the 18th over, but Trevor Garwe survived his first ball and then launched a remarkable assault on the bowling in the closing overs. He and Ryan Butterworth added 45 in 15 balls, Garwe hitting three sixes as Mike Chinouya's medium pace and Steve Tikolo's offspin bore the brunt of their attack.

Southern Rocks lost Chibhabha in the first over of their chase to bring Lara to the crease. Lara had a stint in the unofficial Indian Cricket League in 2007-08 and played for an MCC side against Pakistan at Lord's in June, but has not played much competitive cricket in recent years and took some time to settle.

He slowly picked up momentum, adding 53 for the second wicket with Sikandar Raza, and began to open up when Tatenda Taibu joined him at the wicket. He accelerated past fifty, hitting eight fours and a six, but with 43 needed off the last four overs, Lara lofted a catch to long-off and was gone for 65 off 47 balls.

With the required rate rising all the time, Rocks' lower middle order swiped desperately and Garwe swung the match decisively towards Eagles with four wickets in the 18th over. Elton Chigumbura, who made a surprising move from the Eagles to the Rocks days before this tournament began, was pinned lbw and Tikolo, Taibu and Tendai Chisoro quickly followed.

The experienced Harris was perhaps kept back too long and was left stranded with 7 when the last wicket fell in the final over. For Mashonaland Eagles there had been two crucial turning points: the final blaze by Butterworth and Garwe with the bat and then the crucial dismissal of Lara.

In the second match of the day reigning Twenty20 champions Mountaineers dominated Mid West Rhinos from beginning to end to open their tournament with a 35-run win. Hamilton Masakadza batted through their innings and while he missed out on a century his muscular, unbeaten 96 set up a daunting total of 191 for 5. Rhinos lost Brendan Taylor to the very first ball of their chase and never really recovered, a brief flutter from their middle order adding a sheen of respectability in defeat.

Masakadza and Jonathan Beukes got Mountaineers' innings off to a fluent start with a 52-run opening stand, and Greg Smith and Sean Ervine helped keep the momentum up after Beukes picked out Malcolm Waller to give Graeme Cremer the first of his three wickets.

The score had passed 170 when Ervine was bowled by Cremer in the 18th over, and it was left to Masakadza to boost the score in the closing overs as Lance Klusener was run out for 2 and Timycen Maruma was castled first ball by Ed Rainsford. Masakadza swung the last ball of the innings to fine leg to finish four runs short of a hundred, having hit eight fours and four sixes and faced 59 balls.

Taylor has been in stellar form with the national side this year, but made no impact in Rhinos' chase as he flicked the first ball of the innings, from Shingi Masakadza, straight into the hands of Prosper Utseya at long leg. Utseya opened the bowling from the other end with his offspin, keeping a tight line as his first two overs went for just seven runs. Frustration set in for the batsmen and wickets fell as they tried to break free. Three wickets fell in the first five overs for the addition of just 22 runs before Malcolm Waller launched a fightback, hitting out powerfully.

It was a hopeless cause, as the required rate had risen beyond 13-an-over halfway through the innings, but Waller's fighting 31 off 25 balls did at least change the tone of the innings. Solomon Mire gave him admirable support, thrashing Maruma for two enormous sixes in an 18-ball 31. In the dying overs Riki Wessels hammered 45 not out off 26 balls, but by then the result was already a foregone conclusion and his innings simply allowed his team to retain some dignity in defeat.

The morning crowd grew steadily during the afternoon and there were perhaps a couple of thousand spectators of all races present during the second match. The new embankment proved a popular spot and, even if the finish wasn't exciting, the opening day of the Stanbic Bank 20 was at least entertaining.

[steveaustin]

One man army Lara hits 50+, as usual his team loses.

Even though he played himself very well, his team always ends up on a losing side. It seems to be the curse for one of the all time great batsmen. When he was at the crease, his team has scored nearly 8.6 runs per over. His second wicket partnership of 53 runs with Sikandar Raza came of 6.1 overs at a RR of 8.59. His third wicket partnership with Taibu has yielded 80 runs in 9.1 overs at a RR of 8.72. He himself scored 65 runs with 8 fours and a six at a strike rate of 138.29. Out of 146 runs scored by the Southern rocks, 133 runs came off when Lara was at the crease. He has scored 44.52% of his team runs and still as usual ending up on a losing side. :)

[directhit]

:victory: hope he comes into IPL :pray:

[raghavendran]

One man army Lara hits 50+, as usual his team loses.

Even though he played himself very well, his team always ends up on a losing side. It seems to be the curse for one of the all time great batsmen. When he was at the crease, his team has scored nearly 8.6 runs per over. His second wicket partnership of 53 runs with Sikandar Raza came of 6.1 overs at a RR of 8.59. His third wicket partnership with Taibu has yielded 80 runs in 9.1 overs at a RR of 8.72. He himself scored 65 runs with 8 fours and a six at a strike rate of 138.29. Out of 146 runs scored by the Southern rocks, 133 runs came off when Lara was at the crease. He has scored 44.52% of his team runs and still as usual ending up on a losing side. :) 8-)

[raghavendran]

:victory: hope he comes into IPL :pray:i hope he doesnt play ipl.he wont....i just cant c him sit on the dugout,left out of the team for some rookie allrounder..venave venam..he is to big a player to play domestic cricket stuff.. :P

[directhit]

:victory: hope he comes into IPL :pray:i hope he doesnt play ipl.he wont....i just cant c him sit on the dugout,left out of the team for some rookie allrounder..venave venam..he is to big a player to play domestic cricket stuff.. :P :evil: alloov what nonsense ur talking... adhellaam nadakkave nadakkadhu 8-)

[raghavendran]

:victory: hope he comes into IPL :pray:i hope he doesnt play ipl.he wont....i just cant c him sit on the dugout,left out of the team for some rookie allrounder..venave venam..he is to big a player to play domestic cricket stuff.. :P :evil: alloov what nonsense ur talking... adhellaam nadakkave nadakkadhu 8-)it has happened to lot of proper batsman...and just cant c him go under the hammer..getting paid less than a suresh raina...yarukku keela yaaru irukardhu..venam anoop

[directhit]

raghavendran - true in terms of pay etc.. but being his fan thts perhaps the only way i'd get to see him play.. he himself has expressed desire playing for ipl (but he mentioned Mumbai Indians team :twisted:) .. i hope IPL happens but again the connection was with Lalit modi etc, with all this nonsense off late i doubt if it'd happen though..

[raghavendran]

being his fan thts perhaps the only way i'd get to see him play.coudln agree wid u more :D

[raghavendran]

LARA BATTING AT AGE 15 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9N9o7rrbTg)
:notworthy: :notworthy:

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al41xubi74I

Brian Lara 182 vs Australia 2000/01 Adelaide

[raghavendran]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al41xubi74I

Brian Lara 182 vs Australia 2000/01 Adelaidebrilliant innings :notworthy:

[ajithfederer]

Brian Lara 100 vs Australia 1999 Antigua.VOB (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAyfPkyop_M&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL)

[directhit]

vs Australia at Barbados winning the series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng6DRm2HrwM :bow: i was watching this match at midnight, everytime walsh was on strike was closing my eyes and muting the tv :lol:

[steveaustin]

Brian Lara 100 vs Australia 1999 Antigua.VOB (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAyfPkyop_M&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL)

AF
:ty:

Look at the catch that Healy took. The ball hit his palm and somehow he managed to hold. Earlier when Miller dropped a sitter, look at the agony in Mcgrath's face. Is it due to the impact of Lara during that series?

This innings is just like a action movie pack. In this innings, he emerged as Action hero. The balls were hit like bullets from a machine gun. Earlier in this series, he played two innings where he played an melodrama innings of 213 and later a suspense thriller innings of 153*.

When he came into the crease, the score card read 20 for 2 and he left the crease at 136 for 3. He has scored 100 runs out of 116 runs (i.e. 86.2 %) while he was the crease. Is this what we call a dominance?

[ajithfederer]

Brian Lara 103* vs Pakistan 1996/97 WACA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO12sQepAjs)

Aaha 90's carlton & united series nostalgia. Kandippa paakanum.

[ajithfederer]

Brian Lara 132 vs Australia 1996/97 Perth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWYdq6sz6wY&feature=related)

[ajithfederer]

Brian Lara 115 vs South Africa 2003/04 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBbZzIJBaGc&feature=related)

[directhit]

AF :ty:

[raghavendran]

Brian Lara 115 vs South Africa 2003/04 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBbZzIJBaGc&feature=related)AF :clap:
wat an innings comin at a very crucial situation

[raajarasigan]

AF :clap:

[steveaustin]

Brian Lara 115 vs South Africa 2003/04 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBbZzIJBaGc&feature=related)

The shot that brought up his hundred and the one off Shaun Pollock !!! :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

[raghavendran]

Brian Lara 115 vs South Africa 2003/04 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBbZzIJBaGc&feature=related)

The shot that brought up his hundred and the one off Shaun Pollock !!! :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: :exactly: :notworthy:

[steveaustin]

Lara's 112* Vs Aussies 2000 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fO8DYRe5CA)

Rain spoilt Lara's party that day probably. The last shot :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

Shame Warne :rotfl:

[steveaustin]

'I'd like to be a player-mentor in the IPL' (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/video_audio/489769.html)

Brian Lara on life after retirement, Tendulkar's longevity, and his Twenty20 ambitions

[steveaustin]

Comment on Brian Lara in Cricinfo.


Sach: "If I wanted to get aliens hooked to cricket, I would show them Lara's batting. Batting to Lara was like playing the guitar to Jimi Hendrix." Word.

[raghavendran]

Comment on Brian Lara in Cricinfo.


Sach: "If I wanted to get aliens hooked to cricket, I would show them Lara's batting. Batting to Lara was like playing the guitar to Jimi Hendrix." Word. adhu

[steveaustin]

[tscii:cb45a576ad]Lara targets IPL stint, says he's working on fitness (http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/current/story/490097.html)

Brian Lara, the former West Indian captain who two months ago ended a three-year break from competitive cricket, has said he wants to make an entrance in the Indian Premier League. Lara played in Zimbabwe's Twenty20 competition this October, and says he wants to be match-fit to get into the IPL's 2011 season.

Lara told ESPNcricinfo that the league in Zimbabwe was not the toughest. "If I was to give myself a chance to play in the IPL, then I need to start now," he said. "I tried negotiating with Surrey in May and that fell through. I am not going to say that I am ready for the IPL. The option is around the corner, and I have put my name in the hat. But I need to play cricket regularly from now till then to get fit and capable of doing justice to the game and to my form in such a highly competitive league."

Ideally, Lara said, his role in the lucrative competition would be similar to that of Shane Warne or Stephen Fleming, whose jobs with their franchises are described as being that of captain-coaches or 'mentors'. "I see myself in that light as well. I don't want to be fighting with the youngsters for a game ... left out today, playing tomorrow. I would like to see myself as someone who can make a contribution even if I am not in the final XI. I would like to get involved in a holistic way and not just as a player."

West Indies are currently No. 8 in the ICC Test and ODI rankings, but while Lara was optimistic about the future of West Indies cricket, he rung a cautionary note."There is still an abundance of talent. I believe that we still have some of the best youngsters in the world. You look at young Kemar Roach as a fast bowler; you look at Adrian Barath making a hundred in his debut Test at the Gabba. Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo's brother … these are very, very good players.

"What I am worried about is those three-four years from teenage life to early twenties. What happens? Do they grab hold of international cricket? They can't do that by themselves. There's got to be a supporting team behind them to make sure that they elevate themselves very quickly to that level."

Lara felt the reason for West Indies' recent struggles did not lie with the players. "I see ordinary Australians get on the scene and in three or four years they are top-class players," he said. "I see [that] in the West Indies, really special young players get out there and struggle, [and] can't find their way. Something must be wrong with our system."

The West Indies players and the administration have been at loggerheads in the recent past. The most recent controversy to dog the team was Chris Gayle's removal as captain after he, along with Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, opted out of a central contract with the West Indies Cricket Board. While Lara did not comment on the players' decision, he said that Gayle's 333 in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle was a positive sign. "I think it is very important. Obviously he lost the captaincy, but I believe the way he handled it ... getting a triple-hundred and putting the team in a position to possibly win a Test match in Sri Lanka. That's very good. It showed maturity, and that's what I like."

Allrounder Darren Sammy has been appointed captain and Lara believed that while their was no doubting Sammy's commitment, the 26-year old would need the support of all the senior members in his side to succeed in his role. "As a player, first of all, he is very committed, a guy who will give you 100%. He can have the towel in his hand, 12th man for the entire series, and you would see him very buoyant out there supporting the guys. That's what I love about him as a player.

"A leader is as good as his troops. Young Sammy will need all the support, especially from the older players; the guys who have been captains at some point in time. He will need their support because the team can be easily derailed if everyone is not in there with one common goal. So it is a good sign, but I just hope that it is not short-lived because we have had those occasions before."

While looking to the future, Lara also pointed to lessons that needed to be learned from the past, conceding that West Indian teams of the recent past lacked pride. "Yeah, there was pride lacking. It's not just something that you pick up and buy in a shop," he said. "It's something that has to be instilled into you. You just don't pick up family values, unless your parents teach you and let you know exactly what they expect. And I believe that some of the younger players did not have that."

Outside of his participation in Zimbabwe's T20 League, Lara's only association with Twenty20 cricket came in the form of a one-year stint with the now defunct Indian Cricket League. "Well, when the ICL first came to me, it was not a rebel league. It had the likes of Tony Greig and Kapil Dev [associated with it]. That was a league that was trying to bring the game forward," said Lara, who turned out for Mumbai Champs for one season.

"I put my name in ink, which was obviously a mistake at the end of it. But I have no regrets. That's gone. I played one season and I asked them to excuse me, because obviously after having such a long career, you don't want to be playing ICL cricket and considered a rebel and banned from all levels of cricket."
[/tscii:cb45a576ad]

[ajithfederer]

Another Carlton United series gem (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prD-Yt5wm2o)

Brian Lara 102 vs Australia 1996/97 GABBA.mp4

[raghavendran]

Another Carlton United series gem (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prD-Yt5wm2o)

Brian Lara 102 vs Australia 1996/97 GABBA.mp4idha na evvolo vaatidhan podradhu.. :notworthy:

[ajithfederer]

Brian Lara 213 vs Australia 2nd test 1999 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS5ETQrUmyk)

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz--5hHmNEY

Brian Lara 153* vs Australia 1999 Barbados

[steveaustin]

Brian lara 221 vs SL NOV 2001 Part 1. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soiiIVkg6-s)

Brian Lara 221 vs SL NOV 2001 Part 2. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulekp9cYJmo)

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jF1OqgdTvk

Brian Lara 116 vs South Africa 2003 WORLD CUP



Lara's straight six of Allan Donald in 2003 World Cup :notworthy:

Anybody has the links for that video?yes thats a brilliant innings..from 50/2 in 20 ovs they wil reach 275.andhe six ode ling ille.. :(

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hg2WIL8X7s

Brian Lara 130 vs Pakistan 1st test 2005

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnBSu--siz4

Brian Lara 153 vs Pakistan 2nd test 2005

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ad62BUfoh8

Brian Lara 87 vs England 3rd test 1995

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6DC75joBc8

Brian Lara 145 vs England 4th test 1995

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFtGpF1lUk4

Brian Lara 152 vs England 5th test 1995

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvlsQIPFsmo

Brian Lara 179 vs England 6th test 1995

[Vivasaayi]

Might get the captaincy role for any of the new franchises...

But velayanda captaina than velayanum..sollitteeen :)

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFs66fhSW-8

Brian Lara 60 vs Australia 1996 WORLD CUP

[Kalyasi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz--5hHmNEY

Brian Lara 153* vs Australia 1999 Barbados

One of the best ever innings I have seen, given the context of the game...

[ajithfederer]

Brian Lara 111* vs South Africa in SA 1992/93 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf8aJ607egw)

Brian Lara 128 vs Pakistan in SA -1992/93 PART ONE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaeug_Obp8s)

Brian Lara 128 vs Pakistan in SA -1992/93 PART TWO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThkjdcvSa2c)

Some very very rare knocks :clap:.

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQOn4cSQmko

Brian Lara 114 vs Pakistan 1st ODI 1993

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tikXG4lbus0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Brian Lara 95* Pakistan 2nd ODI 1993

[directhit]

Though Hayden puts Tendulkar and Lara in the same bracket, he rated the West Indian as his favourite. More so, himself being a left hander just like Lara.

"Lara was a chameleon of the crease. If you switched plans, he would switch too, always staying one step ahead of you. Plenty of batsmen have a great technique, but very few have several great techniques -- Lara did. The key to his adaptability was his beautiful hands. Soft, quick and malleable, they would take him to places he wanted to be. They were the best hands ever, I reckon, and they made him my favourite player by a street.

"Lara just captivated me. Every time he took the crease it was like a batting tutorial. Being a left-hander, I was all over his every move and I absolutely loved most of what I saw. Lara shaped my thoughts and actions about playing spin bowling. If anyone has played spin better, I have not seen him. In fact, Lara did not so much play spin bowlers as play with them," Hayden wrote.

http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/35921/ganguly,-bhajji-chickened-out-of-nagpur-test-hayden

[raghavendran]

FB UPDATE
BRIAN LARA
Sport is a circle. We started dominating the cricket world before Australia took over the mantle. In the last couple of years, the Aussies seem to struggle. I believe the time of invincibility is over since the game has become more competitive as the teams keep on playing against each other round the year. This time Windies has good reason to come on top if our batting clicks. Even India’s chances are good.

[directhit]

Tendulkar never scared me but Lara, Gilchrist did: Shoaib

Colombo, March 19 (PTI): He has had some of the most memorable on-field battles with Sachin Tendulkar but maverick speedster Shoaib Akhtar claims he was never scared to bowl at the legendary batsman. Instead, it was dashing Australian 'keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and West Indian legend Brian Lara who "scared the hell" out of him during his 14-year international career. :smokesmirk:

"Yes, that's true. But that doesn't mean I have no respect for Sachin. He is a legend and will always remain as one. But Sachin would never scare me. Guys like Gilchrist and Lara would scare the hell out of me," Akhtar, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket after the World Cup told espnstar.com in an interview.
Shoaib who played 46 Tests and 163 ODIs for Pakistan was in awe of Lara and Gilchrist. "Gilchrist would simply take me on. Lara was class apart. In fact, I would be so attracted to his persona that I wouldn't know where to bowl. His body-language was just too cool!"

http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.yahoonews.com/tendulkar-never-scared-me-but-lara-gilchrist-did-shoaib-20110319/

[Plum]

2003 world cup-la bowling pOda vAdAnnu captain ketta vArthaila thitti koopttum finelegla oLinjikittu mugaththai thookki kUda captainai pArkAmal (pArthAl bowling pOda kooptuduvArOnnu) bayandhadhu yArai pArthu shoaib thambi?

[sathya_1979]

2003 world cup-la bowling pOda vAdAnnu captain ketta vArthaila thitti koopttum finelegla oLinjikittu mugaththai thookki kUda captainai pArkAmal (pArthAl bowling pOda kooptuduvArOnnu) bayandhadhu yArai pArthu shoaib thambi?
medium term memory loss :)

[raghavendran]

Tendulkar never scared me but Lara, Gilchrist did: Shoaib

Colombo, March 19 (PTI): He has had some of the most memorable on-field battles with Sachin Tendulkar but maverick speedster Shoaib Akhtar claims he was never scared to bowl at the legendary batsman. Instead, it was dashing Australian 'keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and West Indian legend Brian Lara who "scared the hell" out of him during his 14-year international career. :smokesmirk:

"Yes, that's true. But that doesn't mean I have no respect for Sachin. He is a legend and will always remain as one. But Sachin would never scare me. Guys like Gilchrist and Lara would scare the hell out of me," Akhtar, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket after the World Cup told espnstar.com in an interview.
Shoaib who played 46 Tests and 163 ODIs for Pakistan was in awe of Lara and Gilchrist. "Gilchrist would simply take me on. Lara was class apart. In fact, I would be so attracted to his persona that I wouldn't know where to bowl. His body-language was just too cool!"

http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.yahoonews.com/tendulkar-never-scared-me-but-lara-gilchrist-did-shoaib-20110319/:smokesmirk:

[Ramakrishna]

2003 world cup-la bowling pOda vAdAnnu captain ketta vArthaila thitti koopttum finelegla oLinjikittu mugaththai thookki kUda captainai pArkAmal (pArthAl bowling pOda kooptuduvArOnnu) bayandhadhu yArai pArthu shoaib thambi?

Athaane :lol: Thalaivar-a paathaale onnukku pora payya, summaavaachum peela vidraan

[ajaybaskar]

This Darren Bravo's stance, backlift, feet movement everything reminds me of BCL. BCL v 2.0?

[raghavendran]

bravo is Brian's cousin,even his mannersims is just like lara...he is good but lacks tempermant...he needs to play longer innings rather than getting in and throwing his wicket away..one for the future though

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS0gK9MMiaY&feature=channel_video_title

[raghavendran]

Who's the pick of the modern greats?Ponting, Tendulkar or Lara - who among these modern batsmen was the most dominant?

Ian Chappell

January 29, 2012



Ricky Ponting's remarkable resurgence in the last few months, culminating in a fighting double-century at the Adelaide Oval has caused discussion to veer away from his impending retirement to his likely legacy in the game.

There's no argument that Ponting deserves to be mentioned with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara as one of the three most dominant batsmen of the era. But who is the best of that trio of superb strokemakers?

Tendulkar gains a lot of support because he's idolised in a country of more than a billion people, he was compared to Sir Donald Bradman by the man himself, and is on the verge of scoring a hundred international centuries, a remarkable feat of skill and longevity.

Ponting gains votes for his versatility as a batsman and his determination to battle hard in adversity. He has always looked to dominate opposition attacks but he also played one of the best-ever innings to save a Test match, at Old Trafford in 2005. Ponting hasn't shied away from a tough challenge and this has never been more evident than in his recent battle with age. Ponting may trail Tendulkar in discussions on the aesthetics of batting but he bows to no one in the matter of perseverance.

Meanwhile, in a classic case of out of sight out of mind, the now retired Lara hardly ever enters the conversation these days. To exclude him from the discussion is a mistake. He's the current world record holder for most runs in an innings - having regained the title - and next to Bradman, he's the scorer of the most "big" centuries in Test cricket. He has the only score of 400 in Test cricket, a triple-century to go with it, and another seven double-centuries. That's a remarkable feat of hefty scoring, especially when you consider that neither Tendulkar nor Ponting has a triple-century to his name.

This probably highlights an area where Lara is superior to the other two - his knowledge of how to amass big scores. Lara had an innate knowledge of which bowlers to target in order to score quickly and which ones were the most likely to endanger his existence. Consequently, he'd score quickly in spurts and steadily at other times. Fully capitalising on this knowledge he was able to achieve huge scores. Because he didn't put his wicket at risk by trying to score at a rapid rate when the best bowlers were fresh, he was able to maintain a fast run rate by feasting at the most opportune times.

This method also allowed him to maintain a similar run rate from the beginning to the end of his career, which not even Bradman was able to achieve. That is why Lara was able to perform the most remarkable feat of all - reclaiming the world record for the highest score in Test cricket ten years after originally setting the mark.

While the world has watched and waited anxiously for Tendulkar's 100th international century, Ponting has quietly beavered away in the background, restoring his reputation with persistent practice and hard-earned runs in the middle. The fact that those runs were increasingly more convincing in Adelaide and he was able to push on to score a double-century has turned the conversation from "When will he retire?" to "How long will he play on?"

There's no doubt Ponting has resurrected his career and provided himself with an opportunity to add to his glittering record. He'll never reach the statistical peak of Tendulkar, but while the Little Master continues to stumble with the defining century in sight, often because of a mental aberration, Ponting impresses with the strength of his mind.

Nevertheless, if you told me I could pick just one of that trio I'd take Lara. I loved the way he played spin bowling and I admired his determination to always do it "my way".
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell is now a cricket commentator and columnist

[raajarasigan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6KefD-Db-U&feature=BFa&list=LP0jH0eNKDvwo

[raajarasigan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuPqjLs9gDE&feature=g-vrec